JEDDAH – The figures in the budget erased a large portion of pessimism that prevailed among many economic experts and observers on the development of the Saudi national economy's structure. The budget came as an optimistic document in conformity with the economic conditions that will absorb all the challenges facing the Saudi economy, that is, continued dependence on oil revenues, continued government spending, slow growth of some sectors, increased rate of population growth and the pressure it causes on the infrastructure and labor market. Aside from this, the budget's indications and data have numerous optimistic features. Foremost among these is the drop in the public debt by the end of 2012 to SR98.84 billion, representing 3.6 percent of the expected GDP for 2012 compared to SR135.500 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2011. It is expected that the GDP for the non-oil sector, both government and private, will grow by 11.2 percent. The government sector GDP is expected to grow by 10.6 percent and the private sector by 11.5 percent, according to current prices. This encourages businessmen within the Kingdom to expand and diversify their investments. It becomes clear through the allocation of a large portion of the budget to support infrastructure projects. This means achieving integration between the government and private sector. The features of the budget also include strengthening the private sector by enabling it to take part in carrying out development projects.
