Sadhan read the royal decrees on the national budget for the fiscal year 1432/1433H. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja said that upon a directive of the Deputy Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Minister of Finance gave a brief overview on the global economic conditions and their impact on oil revenues and the general revenues of the state as well as the local economic developments and financial results for the current fiscal year 1431/1432H, in addition to the main features of the new budget. The Minister of Finance said that according to the Department of Statistics and Information, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for this year 1431/1432H. (2010) is expected to reach SR 1,360,000,000,000 with an increase by 16.6% over the previous fiscal year 1430/1431H. (2009) as a result of a 25% growth of the petroleum sector. The GDP of the public and private non-oil sectors is expected to increase by 9.2%, and the government sector is expected to grow by 15.7% and the private sector by 5.3 % at current prices. In terms of fixed prices, the GDP is expected to grow by 3.8%, the oil sector by 2.1%, and the non-oil sector by 4.4%. The government sector is expected to grow by 5.9% and the private sector by 3.7%, where the contribution of the private sector to the GDP reached 47.8%. All economic activities constituting the GDP of the non-oil sector have achieved a positive growth, where the real growth in non-oil manufacturing is estimated to be 5%, the communications, transport and storage (5.6%), the electricity, gas and water (6%), construction (3.7%), the wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels (4.4%), and the finance, insurance and real estate (1.4%). --More
