Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, lauded the strenuous efforts being exerted by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the central bank, to contribute to the Kingdom's financial stability. He also congratulated the SAMA staff for their outstanding performance. The Crown Prince made the remarks when he received a copy of the 52nd annual report of SAMA during a meeting with Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jada'an and SAMA Governor Dr. Ahmed Al-Khulaifi at Al-Yamama Palace in Riyadh on Monday. Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, also received a copy of the report, which highlighted major domestic and global economic developments for the fiscal year of 2015. Meanwhile, SAMA Governor Al-Khulaifi said that there is no move to impose duty on the remittance of expatriates despite the huge volume of their money transfers. He also denied reports about a move to issue bank note in the denomination of SR1,000. The central bank chief was speaking at a press conference after the release of SAMA's annual economic report. Al-Khulaifi said that Saudi Arabia has a very comfortable level of foreign reserves, despite a drawdown in assets to help cover a fall in oil revenue. "I think we are very comfortable. We have no issue with that." He emphasized that there is no worries over the adverse effect of Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) on Saudi investments in the United States, as they enjoy sovereign immunity. He announced that there is no intention to end pegging of the Saudi riyal to the dollar or to change the rate of exchange. Al-Khulaifi noted that the annual SAMA report covers several topics such as most prominent domestic and global economic developments, monetary and banking developments, the balance of payments, the latest developments in the sector, covering the fiscal year 2015, external and public finance and oil sectors, and non-oil including developments in the insurance and financial markets, as well as a series of statistics covering public finance, oil, monetary, banking, and real estate sectors. Al Khulaifi said the Saudi economy grew by 3.5 percent in the first half of this year. The International Monetary Fund projects Saudi real Gross Domestic Product growth of far less, at 1.2 percent this year, compared with 3.5 percent in 2015. "The national economy continued to grow positively in 2015, as it increased according to data of real GDP by 3.5 percent. However the economic growth was influenced by the oil market, developments in the global economy and the atmosphere in the region and hence the Kingdom's economy grew in the first half of this Year by 1.5 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year." According to latest data released by the General Administration of Statistics, the data of inflation fell in the month of September this year to 3 percent, compared to a rate of 4.3 percent, at beginning of the year 2016, he said while pointing out to the continued contribution of monetary and banking sector to the economic movement through providing adequate liquidity to fund activities in the economy. The central bank chief predicted bright future for the Kingdom's economy that will move through a new development track. The objectives of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program have to serve this purpose, with a concrete impact on the economy through the diversification of the national economy, raising the value of the assets of the Public Investment Fund, increasing the contribution of the private sector, increasing foreign direct investment, reducing the unemployment rate, raising the contribution of small and medium enterprises, as well as raising the proportion of women's participation in the labor market, and enhancing efficiency and balance in public spending by increasing non-oil revenues, and raising the proportion of household savings to the total revenue, he added.
