The Ministry of Finance welcomed IMF report following concluding of Article IV consultations with the Government of the Kingdom and IMF Executive Board of the IMF, on the situation of the national economy. Commenting the results of the consultations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan said: "We welcome the Fund's commendation of the progress achieved so far in implementing the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which it described as a bold reform program. "I particularly welcome IMF indication to improvements in the Kingdom's fiscal framework, commitment to transparency and intensified action to remove obstacles facing the private sector growth," he said. IMF expects non-oil growth in the Kingdom to reach 1.7% this year, compared to 0.2% last year. Growth rates will improve over the medium term, with the implementation of structural reforms, however it will go down from 17.2% of GDP in 2016 to 9.3% in 2017. "Although there is a lot of optimism, we are aware that there are also challenges that require intensive action to confront them, under the wise leadership committed to the comprehensive reform process, the economy and through substantive analysis. International Monetary Fund is sure of the solid fundamentals of the Saudi economy, which enables it to continue to build a modern and vibrant economy, in which prosperity prevails. The Minister expressed thanks to colleagues in various government agencies who exerted great efforts before and during the discussions of Article 4, thanked the representatives of the International Monetary Fund and looked forward to continue cooperation with them, to serve best interest of the national economy and stability of the world economy, as well.
