Saudi Arabia will continue to advance reforms, ensure fiscal sustainability: Finance Minister

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance

Saudi Arabia will continue to advance its reform agenda to support the recovery and ensure fiscal sustainability, Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan said, welcoming the recent upward revisions in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) projections to the Kingdom’s economy.

In a statement at the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, the minister stressed the importance of accelerating efforts for the international community through various initiatives and forums, including ensuring equal and swift access to vaccines and supporting the most affected member countries.

Praising the role of the World Bank, Al-Jadaan underscored the importance of promoting equitable and fair access to vaccines in developing countries, primarily low-income countries.

He also highlighted the importance of providing support to these countries to help them respond to the impact of the pandemic and lay the foundations for a sustainable economic recovery.

In this context, the minister called for strengthening the continued efforts to reduce the debt burden on low-income countries within the G20 Debt Service Suspension initiative (DSSI) and the G20 Common Framework.

He urged the World Bank and the IMF to support the implementation of the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI, which was endorsed by the G20 under the Saudi Presidency last year.

Al-Jadaan reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to addressing the challenges of climate change at the domestic, regional and global levels.

He noted that the Kingdom will host the Saudi Green Initiative Forum and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in October as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve the global goals to combat climate change.

The minister urged the World Bank to include the Circular Carbon Economy Framework (CCE) in its projects, which the G20 endorsed as an effective approach to mitigate the impact of climate change.