Long-term plans of Saudi Vision 2030 support economic flexibility: Al-Jadaan

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, stated that the long-term plans of Saudi Vision 2030 support economic resilience.

He added that flexibility is essential for countries to manage economic shocks in an unpredictable landscape successfully.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's special meeting in Riyadh, Al-Jadaan said that geopolitical tensions are the main danger facing the global economy.

These tensions  directly impact global economies, leading to economic fragmentation and protectionist policies, as well as adopting the economy as a tool to achieve geopolitical goals and imposing restrictions on trade, technology, and others.

In the long term, Saudi Arabia must focus on human capital development to improve innovation and refinement, as these two factors are the major drivers of high-quality growth.

Al-Jadaan pointed out that the sustainability of countries' debts is an important factor, as countries cannot focus on growth while they are burdened with debt.

Saudi Arabia reported a 4.4% growth of non-oil GDP in 2023, which was considered healthy compared to the global output, he highlighted.

The Kingdom could have achieved GDP growth of up to 25% if it produced 12 million barrels per day of oil, but this will be considered growth of quantity, not quality.

“Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives are on track at 87%”, the Saudi minister assured, indicating that there is still a bundle of challenges that requires modifying some projects, accelerating a number of them, and reducing the size of other projects.