Saudi newspapers highlighted in their editorials today a number of issues at local, regional, and international arenas. Al-Yaum newspaper reported in its editorial that the economic reforms that were taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the past years under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, has significantly contributed in avoiding the Saudi economy many difficult impacts that were expected to be caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The paper added that the Kingdom's vision 2030 has adapted several plans and strategies to boost the local economy and diversify its resource, in terms of diversifying income, increasing non-oil revenues, reducing depending on the oil, and focusing on local and global investments. Al-Bilad newspaper said in its editorial that the announcement made by Saudi Aramco for distributing cash dividends to shareholders of SAR 70.32 billion ($ 18.75 billion) for the first quarter of 2020 demonstrated its financial and operational strength despite a challenging macro environment and lower energy demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has managed the crises of the spread of the pandemic and the financial and economic impacts of it with a strong will and comprehensive solutions, such as OPEC+ agreement, and has proven its high ability to adapt to the challenges and deal with a crisis that the world has not witnessed in the recent history. Okaz newspaper reported in its editorial that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is continuing its successes in facing coronavirus pandemic, by working to reduce the percentage of infections and deaths and increase the rate of recovery. The paper added that such progress made through qualitative decisions weighed, along with the precautionary measures taken by all the concerned authorities, in addition to interaction and response from citizens and residents. The paper concluded that in further steps to these decisions and measures, Saudi Arabia directed to set 71 specialized local factories to produce all the services and medical supplies needed for the people of the homeland to protect them from coronavirus pandemic that has claimed lives of hundreds of thousands worldwide.
