IMF commends advancement in Saudi Arabias financial market reforms

RIYADH — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) welcomed the statement released by the IMF mission that visited the Kingdom in May for Article IV consultations.

The statement noted KSA economic reforms and the recovery in the non-oil sector, which contributed to improving the economic outcomes in 2018.

It is expected that the growth rate of the non-oil sector will accelerate to 2.9% in 2019, as the increasing government spending and reforms implementation will likely drive economic growth.

The statement indicated an improvement in the transparency of government spending and public finance. The statement emphasized the continuation of reforms aimed at strengthening the country's development of general budgeting and a mid-term public finance framework.

The statement referred to the Expenses Management System (Etimad), which contributed to improving and realizing expenditure efficiency and public financial transparency.

The statement commended the advancement in financial market reforms which culminated in getting KSA listed in the global stock and bonds markets indices and the expansion of the government bonds yield curve towards longer-term maturities which will contribute in developing the financial sector and deepening the debt market of the private sector.

Minister of Finance Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, commented that the statement stresses KSA government’s strong progress in implementing the economic and structural reforms, especially evidenced by the positive outcomes of the Q1 Budget Report 2019.

He also noted that the IMF statement reflects the key efforts made in developing the KSA financial sector to ensure a robust Saudi financial sector which realizes the strategic objectives of KSA Vision 2030.