The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the Article IV consultation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Following is the full text of IMF report: On July 13, 2009, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confronts the current global crisis with stronger fundamentals compared with previous downturns. In recent years, the authorities consolidated their macroeconomic position, strengthened the financial sector, and implemented structural reforms to boost private-sector led growth. The consolidation of Saudi Arabia's economic position has not gone unnoticed: Saudi Arabia was ranked first among Arab countries for four consecutive years and 16th globally by the latest World Bank's Doing Business Report. Against this backdrop, the economy delivered another strong performance in 2008 despite global headwinds. Real GDP, buoyed by a sustained broad-based expansion in the non-oil sector (4.3 percent) and higher oil production, grew by 4.4 percent. Inflation, after accelerating in the first half of the year (11.1 percent in July year-on-year), subsided to 5.2 percent y/y in April 2009 owing to weaker demand and lower import prices. --More
