KSA: Saudi economy grows at fastest pace in a decade – Gulf Digital News

KSA: Saudi economy grows at fastest pace in a decade – Gulf Digital News

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade in the first quarter, thanks largely to booming oil prices and increasing output.

Gross domestic production rose by 9.6 per cent year-on-year, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics said. That’s the highest figure since the third quarter of 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Non-oil GDP expanded by 3.7pc, compared with 4.7pc in the final quarter of 2021.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising inflation are hitting economies across the world. Last month, the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for 2022 by 0.8 percentage points to 3.6pc, and also lowered its predictions for the US, China and India.

Gulf countries are benefiting, however, from the surge in oil and gas prices. This year, the Saudi economy will expand 7.6pc and reach $1 trillion for the first time, according to IMF forecasts.

Brent is up 38pc in 2022 to $107 a barrel, having climbed 50pc in last year as demand recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. Opec+, a group of oil exporters led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, has also been raising production. Riyadh pumped 10.3 million barrels a day of crude in March, the most since April 2020.

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