• Keynote speaker: Mr. Mutlaq Al-Buqumi
• Speaker 1: Fahad Al-Qasim
• Speaker 2: Suleiman Tufail
• Moderator: Dr. Sadaqa Fadil

Summary

The keynote speaker indicated that the successive reports of international institutions revealed a significant improvement and recovery in the Saudi economy. This is attributed to the restructuring process which the Saudi economy has been witnessing in light of the Vision 2030 programs. After a series of raising the growth expectations of the Saudi economy by the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World Bank (WB), the final statement of the initial conclusions of the mission of the International Monetary Fund in Article IV for 2019, shed more light on the developments of the Saudi economy and the remarkable progress on all economic indicators.

The final statement of the IMF mission usually describes the initial conclusions reached by the IMF experts at the end of an official mission’s visit, mostly to the member country. The statement addressed the allowance of the high cost of living, which is expected to be halted as planned by the end of 2019. The statement also sees that there is a need for financial control to reduce risks in the medium term.

The expectation adopted by the International Monetary Fund regarding the growth of the Saudi economy by 1.8% for 2019 was not correct, given that the Saudi Vision 2030 has taken into account the expectations and recommendations of the International Monetary Fund as one of the cornerstones on which it relied. There are many important economic recommendations and proposals for the course of economic reforms in the Kingdom that are being studied and scrutinized by the decision-makers and economists.

Contributions on the issue included the following themes:

• An overview of the International Monetary Fund.
• Differences between the IMF and the World Bank.
• Importance of the IMF reports.
• The concerns raised about the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund for the Kingdom.
• Expectations of the International Monetary Fund and expectations of the local economy.

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Recommendations:

1. Prospecting the agencies in charge of the economic status of the Country (i.e., ministries and others) regarding the importance of economy. This prospecting is based on fields of interest these agencies assist the economy and remove the barriers that may influence the economy because of the suggestions they give.
2. Keenness on continuing growth and sustainability of developed national economy, based on the standard scientific procedures. This shall necessarily be consistent with comprehensive development in all areas.
3. Adopting international measures of growth and performance, comparing them with what is taking place at the national level. There has to be a periodical follow-up while making the necessary correction to align with these standards.
4. Studying the possibility of splitting the development plans into future five-year or ten-year plans.
5. Developing the oil-based economy as a major contributor to the national income by borrowing advanced experiences from oil countries.