The Ministry of Finance has welcomed the announcement by Fitch Ratings Agency,which affirmed the Kingdom's credit rating at (A +) with a stable outlook. The announcement also pointed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's financial strength, including foreign reserves, low public debt, and huge government assets. Fitch also confirmed that the Kingdom still has one of the largest sovereign assets of countries rated by the agency. The agency added that structural reforms within the framework of the "Kingdom's Vision 2030" programs could boost growth in the medium term, praising financial reforms that may support the acceleration of growth of non-oil GDP to 2.5% in 2019-2020. The report also pointed to expectations of a rise in the public debt to reach 22% of GDP by 2020, but the agency confirmed that this percentage is still lower than the average of the countries classified in category A, and praised the strength of the Saudi banking sector and the legislations of Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. These positive estimates reflect the confidence of the international rating agencies in the Saudi economy and the effectiveness of the economic reforms taken by the Kingdom's government in the context of the fiscal balance program to reach its general targets in 2023.
