JEDDAH — The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA), which held its meeting via video conference on Sunday, reviewed the robust performance of the Saudi economy in withstanding global challenges. The Council discussed a number of economic topics and took the necessary decisions and recommendations in this respect. The meeting reviewed the monthly presentation submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Planning regarding the performance of the global and local economy for the month of August 2024, which included an analysis of the prospects of the global economy, the challenges it faces, and their impact on the national economy. The presentation noted the flexibility of the Saudi economic policies in facing these global challenges, by building a diverse and stable economic base, in light of the continued decline in inflation rates to reach 1.5 percent in July, and the increase in commodity exports by 8.2 percent year-on-year in May due to economic diversification efforts. The council also discussed the presentation made by the Ministry of Finance focusing on the second quarter report on the performance of the state's general budget for the fiscal year 2024. These included a detailed review of the financial performance until the end of the second quarter of this year, as well as indicators of revenues, expenditures and public debt. This is in addition to the progress in improving the quality of services provided to citizens and residents, supporting social protection programs, developing infrastructure, and strategic programs and projects supporting economic diversification to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. The Council followed up on the presentation submitted by the Project Management Office at the CEDA Secretariat regarding the follow-up of the decisions and recommendations issued by the Council during the second quarter of 2024, which included a detailed breakdown of the Council's outputs, and detailed statistics on the level of achievement. The Council reviewed the annual presentation submitted by the Digital Content Council regarding the performance of the Digital Content Program for the year 2023, reviewing the growth achieved by digital content in the Kingdom, the most prominent achievements made, and the current status of the program in terms of the number of completed and under-implementation initiatives, challenges and proposed solutions.
