Saudi economic recovery to broaden in 2019: FocusEconomics

Saudi Arabia’s economic recovery should broaden this year due to renewed fiscal stimulus, which should support domestic demand, FocusEconomics said in its latest Consensus Forecast - Middle East & North Africa report of January 2019.

The economy benefited from increased crude oil production and higher prices in the third quarter, prompting GDP to expand at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years, the report added.

Also Read: Fiscal stimulus to accelerate Saudi’s growth in 2019: FocusEconomics

Although growth in non-oil private activity accelerated slightly, it remained low compared to historical figures.

Although the Saudi government sees the recent drop in oil prices as temporary, it is still unclear whether the recently-approved oil production cut will be enough to push up oil prices, the FocusEconomics report maintained.

“Our panel expects growth of 2.2 percent in 2019, which is down 0.2 percentage points from last month’s projection. In 2020, growth is also seen at 2.2 percent,” it added.