Saudi Arabia considers scaling down Vision 2030 projects amid economic challenges
Mohammed Al Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, said the kingdom was adjusting its strategy based on the global economy. Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan on Sunday said the kingdom would adapt to current economic and geopolitical challenges and “downscale” or “accelerate” some of the projects being carried out under its Vision 2030 programme.
Asked whether Saudi Arabia had to “mark-to-market” its expectations regarding the goals of the 14-year long programme, Mr Al Jadaan said: “Absolutely, yes.”
The kingdom could increase its gross domestic product growth rate by boosting oil production but such an expansion would not be “quality growth, but quantity growth,” the minister said during a panel session at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, launched the 2030 vision programme in 2016 to diversify its economy away from oil, support private-sector growth, improve female workforce participation and reduce the unemployment rate among citizens.
Mr Al Jadaan also said developing economies should not be forced to pick a side between China and the US and its allies.
“We should avoid forcing them to make a choice between two countries or two groups of countries,” he said.
“I think it is very difficult to go to Africa and say: ‘Listen, if you want us to help you, you need to stop dealing with China or if you want us to help, you need to stop dealing with the G7 [Group of Seven nations] or the US’.
“That is not a clear choice for them because they need all the help we can [give], whether it is from the South or the North.”
Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said the divergence in economic growth is “deepening”.
“In advanced economies, the US is doing well but the eurozone is not. Within the emerging market economies … India, Indonesia and Malaysia … are doing well. China came a bit above expectations in its first quarter but then we have a number of countries that are facing significant difficulties,” she said at the same panel.
“What has happened over the last years is countries used all the ammunition they had because of Covid, the war in Ukraine [and] then the cost-of-living crisis, but more shocks will come and rebuilding fiscal buffers is a priority.”