Economy strong enough to tackle all challenges: King

CUSTODIAN of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Thursday underlined the need for ensuring implementation of the general budget very carefully in a way achieving comprehensive and balanced development and improve the services being extended to the citizens.

The King made the remarks in his speech while chairing the extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers to approve the general budget for the fiscal year 2017. King Salman noted that the unveiling of the budget comes at a time when most of the countries are suffering from extremely volatile economic situations that led to slow pace in the global economic growth and drop in oil prices. “Despite its impact, our nation is dealing with these fluctuations so as not to affect the goals that we aspired to achieve,” the King was quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.

Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior; and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense; share a word during the Cabinet meeting. — SPA

King Salman noted that the Saudi economy is strong enough and possesses sufficient strength to cope with the current economic and financial challenges, thanks to the prudent fiscal policies pursued by the state. “We are determined to strengthen the components of our national economy and accordingly we adopted the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its executive programs in line with a comprehensive reform vision that would take the Kingdom to much broader and comprehensive horizons so that it can meet the challenges and further strengthen its position in the global economy.

“Our vision is not only a set of ambitions, but also executive programs so as to enable us to achieve our national priorities and opportunities for all through the strengthening and development of partnership with the private sector, in addition to raising the pace of coordination and integration among all government agencies, and to continue fiscal discipline, and promoting transparency and integrity,” the King said.

The King said the government has sought, through this budget and its programs, to improve the efficiency of the capital and operational spending of the state, as well as to strengthen public finances and enhance its sustainability. “We also gave priority to development projects and service programs that serve the citizens directly, and contribute to activating the role of the private sector and increase its contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP). We are optimistic in our ability to deliver, and then support the citizens of our country in order to achieve the desired economic well-being,” the King said while praying Almighty Allah to make it a good budget that is a blessing for the nation and the citizens.