Saudi Arabia's Minister
of Finance, Mohammed Al Jadaan, has said again that the government is committed
to keeping spending on important public services like education, healthcare,
and social support high. His comments
came out at the same time as the release of the final statement for the 2026
state budget. This document lays out the Kingdom's main spending plans,
expected revenues, and strategic priorities for the ongoing economic
transformation.
Al Jadaan stressed that
the government is still committed to meeting the basic needs of its
citizens. He said that investments in
social sectors will keep going without stopping, and that improving the quality
of government services and public facilities will always be a top priority for
Saudi policy. The minister said that
infrastructure development is moving along steadily across the Kingdom, which
is making life better for people who live there.
He thanked the Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for their ongoing support and
advice. He said that their leadership
has been key to making the Saudi economy stronger and making sure that fiscal
policies work. This support has helped
the government make the best use of the country's resources while keeping the
health and safety of Saudi citizens as its top priority.
Al Jadaan said again that
the economy will keep changing, with a focus on investing in promising sectors,
diversifying, and coming up with new ideas.
He said that the results so far are clear proof that the economic and
financial reforms that are meant to encourage growth for everyone and make
public financial management more efficient are working. One of the most important parts of these
reforms is still making services better for citizens, residents, and visitors.
The minister said that the small drop in spending forecasts for some sectors in 2025 and 2026 is because big projects will be finished, operations will be more efficient, and one-time costs will be recorded in 2024. These changes don't mean that commitments have gone down; they mean that spending is more efficient and resources are being used more strategically.
Al Jadaan said that the
medium-term fiscal policy is still helping the third phase of Saudi Vision
2030. The main goal of this phase is to
make the most impact and make sure that strategic spending helps long-term growth. The budget for 2026 confirms that we will
continue to invest in development projects and sectoral strategies that are
linked to Vision 2030. It also shows
that spending will continue to help diversify the economy, strengthen revenue
streams, and make the business environment better. Other important goals are to help exports and
make private sector investments bigger and more varied.
The government also has
to deal with the budget deficit and keep debt levels at a level that can be
sustained. Al Jadaan said that the
Kingdom plans to keep doing both domestic and international financing
operations to make up for the expected deficit in 2026 and pay off debt that is
due. These actions will be taken based
on the state of the financial markets in order to help with development and
infrastructure projects. In 2025, the
total public debt is expected to be about 1.457 trillion riyals, and in 2026,
it is expected to be about 1.622 trillion riyals. These amounts are still
within internationally accepted sustainability standards.
The minister talked about
how important ongoing economic and structural reforms are. These changes have made financial indicators
stronger, helped the economy become more diverse, and helped keep the economy
stable overall. Early estimates show
that the non-oil GDP will grow by five percent in 2025, thanks to more
investment and strong consumer spending.
Real GDP is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2026, mostly because non-oil
sectors will keep growing.
He also talked about the state of the world
economy, saying that global growth is slowing down because of rising
geopolitical tensions and stricter trade rules.
Even with these problems, falling inflation around the world has led
some central banks to loosen their monetary policies. The Saudi government is still doing a good
job of adapting to global financial pressures, especially the rising levels of
debt around the world.
Al Jadaan said that the Saudi economy's ability to handle external risks and stay strong shows that the Kingdom's fiscal framework is strong and ready to support both domestic and global economic stability.
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