SEOUL: Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf said the Kingdom plays an important role in the world economy especially at international financial institutions. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency after the conclusion of the G20 Summit Friday, he highlighted the Kingdom's role in following up the interests of the developing, Arab and Islamic countries at the G20. He added that the Kingdom's weight makes the Kingdom's role influential on decisions taken by the G20. He highlighted the summit's decisions concerning the Kingdom, including those pertaining to the International Monetary Fund's share allocation, saying that it was agreed to increase loans to developing and emerging countries in the Fund, mainly at the expense of developed nations. The minister also highlighted the summit's results concerning aid to poor countries, financial sectors' monitoring, world economy and exchange rate. On the Kingdom's participation in the summit, he said the Kingdom held a workshop on energy in Riyadh about three weeks ago and members of the G20 attended and through it, focus was put on the importance of energy security, particularly supply and demand. He added that consumer countries should not make policies that lead to lowering or destabilizing demand on oil. He further said that the Kingdom also participated in the work program to help developing nations. Saudi Arabia's economy is seen expanding by 3.8 percent this year, following a mere 0.6 percent expansion in 2009, helped by recovery in crude prices and generous government spending. Annual inflation in the Kingdom eased from 5.9 percent in September, continuing its decline from an 18-month high of 6.1 percent in August. — Saudi GazetteFood prices, which have the largest 26 percent weighting in the consumer price basket, jumped 1.6 percent month-on-month in October, while housing costs rose 0.6 percent, SPA said.
