Saudi Arabia’s robust foreign currency reserves as well as the low public debt (less than 6 percent of GDP) are two important fiscal cushions in the face of volatile oil prices, a top Saudi-based economic analyst said yesterday.
Fahad Alturki, senior economist at Jadwa Investment, made the comments as Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf asserted on Saturday that the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts that Saudi Arabia’s budget surpluses will gradually decline before dropping into deficit by 2016 are a “doomsday scenario.”
Saudi Arabia is ready to tap its foreign currency reserves, equivalent to more than 100 percent of the GDP, if energy prices fall, the minister said.
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