Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector will see modest recovery this year of around 2 percent, however gains are likely to be offset by weakness in the oil sector, according to a report.
Preliminary figures released alongside the kingdom’s 2017 budget in December showed that the Saudi economy expanded by 1.4 percent last year, noted Capital Economics in its latest Middle East Economics Update.
However, that growth was driven almost entirely by the hydrocarbons sector as the kingdom maintained high levels of oil output ahead of November’s OPEC meeting.
The rest of the economy, meanwhile, struggled as the kingdom began to implement a package of austerity measures to fill its budget deficit. Overall, the non-oil sector grew by just 0.2 percent, its worst performance since the late 1980s, the report said. More info
By Staff www.arabianbusiness.com
