Saudi economy stronger than ever, unemployment at lowest level

 Saudi Finance Minister Muhammad Al-Jadaan has said that the work of financial reforms is going on. The Saudi government is controlling inflation.

According to Al-Watan newspaper, Muhammad Al-Jadaan said that the whole world has been facing economic challenges during the past years, but the Saudi economy has become stronger than before.

During the second quarter of this year, there was a growth rate of 5.4 percent in the economy excluding oil, while the growth rate of the gross national product was 11.8 percent.

Speaking at the Euromoney Conference in Riyadh on Wednesday, Saudi Finance Minister said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expected that the Saudi economy will achieve a growth rate of 7.6% during 2022.

He said that "Saudi Arabia is the only country among the countries included in the G20 group, regarding which the International Monetary Fund has presented expectations of twice better performance in terms of economic growth during 2022."

Mohammad Al-Jadaan said that the challenges faced by the world during the past years have proved the effectiveness of Saudi Vision 2030. It was recorded that Vision 2030 has been effective against the challenges.

He said that the business continued as a result of investment in infrastructure. Decisions were made at the right time. Patronage of the public and the private sector. The kingdom's effort is to increase the share of the private sector to 65 percent of Saudi Arabia's gross national product by 2030.

The finance minister said that Saudi Arabia is continuing to implement the Vision 2030 program. The process of reforms is progressing and the economic structure is being expanded.

He added that bold investments in the kingdom achieved a growth rate of 244 percent during the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2021. Compared to the amount of capital invested in new companies in Saudi Arabia during the entire year 2021, the capital invested during the first half of the current year was 244 percent higher. 2.19 billion Rials have been invested.

He said that in 2016, the percentage of families owning houses in the kingdom was 47 percent, the response has increased to more than 60 percent.

The state has announced an investment of more than 700 billion riyals in terms of promoting the green economy, creating new employment opportunities and providing large investment opportunities for the private sector.

Mohammad Al-Jadaan said that the unemployment rate among Saudi citizens has reached the lowest level in ten years. During the first quarter of this year, it reached 10.1 percent, while the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2021 was 11 percent.