RIYADH — Saudi Arabia had a budget surplus of SR27.8 billion in the first quarter of this year, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told a conference here on Wednesday. Total spending increased by 8 percent while revenue jumped 48 percent. "These results clearly illustrate the remarkable progress achieved in the performance of our fiscal position," he said. The Saudi economy grew 2.2 percent in 2018; with the non-oil sector accounting for 56.2 percent of total GDP, Jadaan told the two-day Financial Sector Conference which opened in Riyadh on Wednesday. First-quarter oil revenue climbed to about SR149 billion, compared with SR114 billion in the same period a year earlier. Income from non-oil activities rose to SR76.3 billion, compared with SR52.3 billion. Jadaan said the economic indicators show an increase in non-oil local GDP to 2.1% in 2018 compared to 1.3% in 2017 as well as increase in financial sector, insurance, real estate and business services as the average growth reached 3.3% in five years. Through its presidency of the G20 in 2020,the Kingdom is looking forward to the beginning of 2020 as the beginning of a new decade of cooperation among G20 members, Jadaan added. The finance minister said investors understand the encouraging levels of security and stability which the Kingdom and GCC enjoy. "We are committed to increasing non-oil revenues to boost Saudi economy through a number of reforms," the minister said.
