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IMF Praises Saudi Arabia's Strong Economic Resilience
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday released its Concluding Statement of the 2025 Article IV Mission, following a visit to Saudi Arabia by the IMF's experts. The report, welcomed by the Saudi Ministry of Finance, emphasized the strong resilience of the Kingdom's economy to shocks.
The IMF report pointed out that this resilience is supported by the expansion of non-oil economic activities, the containment of inflation, and the reduction of non-employment rate to a historic low, in line with objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. Strong Resilience
The IMF report praised the Kingdom's government efforts in strengthening the public finance's sustainability and resilience to shocks.
It also noted that the robust domestic demand continues to support economic growth despite heightened global uncertainty, underscoring the Kingdom's commitment to implementing Vision 2030 projects through public and private investments. The strong credit growth also contributed to driving economic growth. Containing Inflation
Furthermore, the IMF report said that Saudi Arabia has managed to contain inflation, which slightly increased to 2.3% in April 2025. This is the result of a credible peg to the US dollar, domestic subsidies, declining prices for transport and communication, a slowdown in residential rent inflation, and an elastic supply of expatriate labor.
It also expected that imported inflation from increased tariffs worldwide will remain under control. SAMA's Efforts
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) played a pivotal role in improving its liquidity management framework to help reduce overall liquidity volatility, the report noted.
It also praised SAMA's continued efforts to bolster regulatory and supervisory frameworks, in addition to efforts to boost the effectiveness of oversight and regulation. Structural Reforms
Moreover, the report commended national reforms undertaken by the Kingdom since 2016 in business regulation, governance, labor, and capital markets.
It also pointed to the new laws that took effect in 2025, including the updated Investment Law, Labor Law amendments, and the new Commercial Registration Law, expecting that they will enhance investors and businesses' contractual certainty, while supporting productivity gains.
The report also underscored the importance of continued structural reform efforts to sustain non-oil growth and economic diversification.
Additionally, the IMF report emphasized the importance of the government's continued efforts to strengthen the fiscal framework to support public finance sustainability and Vision 2030 objectives, with a key focus on enhancing the medium-term fiscal framework.
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