#SaudiArabia could ease fiscal adjustment to help recovery, IMF says | Reuters

Saudi Arabia could ease fiscal adjustment to help recovery, IMF says | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's plans to balance its finances are making good progress but a slower pace of adjustment could be considered this year to support the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's economy, the largest in the Arab world, is expected to grow 2.1% in 2021 after shrinking 4.1% last year amid the twin shock of the pandemic and lower oil prices, the IMF said in a report.

The forecast figure is lower than a 2.9% real gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate the IMF published last month due to a downward revision of Saudi oil GDP, now expected to contract by 0.5% this year, against an earlier 1.6% growth estimate.

This was due to production levels agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, said the Fund.