RIYADH: Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf disagreed yesterday with the IMF’s forecast that the oil-rich kingdom’s GDP will grow by only 4.4 percent this year, insisting that the economy is expanding at a higher rate.
“The (International Monetary) Fund has forecast growth in the kingdom this year to be at 4.4 percent. We disagree, and expect growth to be higher,” he told an economic forum.
“The Fund has its independent standards, and we disagreed with its estimates last year,” he said, without giving a prediction for 2013.
The IMF said this month that it expected growth in the largest Arab economy to drop to 4.4 percent in 2013 from 6.8 percent last year, blaming an anticipated drop in oil production and government spending.
Meanwhile, Assaf said Saudi Arabia’s credit rating have been “excellent,” but said they should be higher.
Ratings agencies “categorise countries depending on whether they are advanced or developing, and do not look closely at the fundamentals of each economy,” he said.
“We think that the rating of the Saudi economy should be higher. However, we do appreciate their efforts, and this year, they have raised their ratings to positive.”
Yeserday, Standard & Poor’s said it revised is long-term sovereign credit rating on Saudi Arabia to positive from stable.
Almarai plans bonus issue
RIYADH: Saudi dairy firm Almarai wants to raise its capital by 50 percent to SR6bn ($1.6bn) through the distribution of a bonus share for every two shares already held, it said in a bourse statement yesterday.
The plan, which it said aims to strengthen the company’s financing ability, must be approved by the markets regulator and shareholders.
Almarai’s board also approved a capital spending programme of SR15.7bn over the next five years which was announced last year.
Agencies
