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Saudi growth to reach 6.8 per cent in 2012: Fin. Minister Kingdom's economy is isolated from global turmoil and will close out the year with a $3bn budget surplus, claims its financial chief
Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.8 per cent in 2012 due to the government's expansionary fiscal stance, the Kingdom's finance minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf told reporters at the World Economic Forum on Thursday. Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires at the Swiss resort of Davos, Al-Assaf said Saudi Arabia's economy is "isolated" from the current global economic turmoil and that the EU has not approached his country for financial help. He added that the kingdom has a preference for oil prices to settle around $100 to the barrel. "$100 per barrel is a good price for oil. That's our government policy," Al-Assaf added. In December, Saudi Arabia outlined a $187 billion budget for 2012 involving significant cuts in both public spending and revenues. Despite austerity measures, it still allows the world's largest oil producer to finish with a surplus forecast of around $3 billion. Under the budget announced by the Finance Ministry, revenues are forecast at 702 billion riyals ($187 billion), while expenditures are projected at 690 billion riyals, or 16.5 per cent below spending in 2011. In 2011, Saudi saw a surplus of 306 billion riyals ($69.7 billion).
