The Report: Saudi Arabia 2019

Since its establishment in September 1932, the Kingdom has poured its considerable financial resources into a series of large-scale economic development, diversification and modernisation initiatives. Saudi Arabia has attracted international attention for the momentum of its socio-economic transformation, taking place under the auspices of the Vision 2030 development blueprint. Firming oil prices and an expansionary budget have resulted in a positive outlook for Saudi Arabia for 2019, with the IMF lifting the Kingdom’s GDP growth prediction for 2019 by 0.5% to 2.4% in October 2018. The government has produced two record-breaking budgets for 2018 and 2019, and the private sector is poised to benefit as the projects outlined in the nation’s far-reaching development strategy, Vision 2030, begin to take shape. Vision 2030 sets out sweeping regulatory, budget and social reforms that will be implemented over the coming decade as the nation sets about curbing its reliance on crude oil production and export, which accounted for 43.5% of GDP in 2018.