Saudi newspapers highlighted in their editorials today a number of issues at local, regional and international arenas. Al-Bilad newspaper said in its editorial that the state budget figures for the Q2 2021 affirmed the Saudi economy's ability to avoid shocks and crises. This is in addition to its ability to overcome the repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and its major health and economic challenges to all countries and the global economy. In this regard, the newspaper added that Saudi Arabia achieved a positive growth in the Q2 and then in the outcome of the first half of the year. The budget figures for the Q2 of 2021 showed that Saudi Arabia's total quarterly revenues amounted to SAR248 billion, while total expenditures reached SAR252.7 billion. The deficit narrowed to SAR4.6 billion. According to the Ministry of Finance, Saudi Arabia's non-oil revenues rose by 31%, reaching SAR116 billion, while oil revenues by 13%, reaching SAR132 billion. Spending on health rose by 20% in the first half of 2021. The newspaper concluded that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's economy continues to progress in line with the ambitious goals of Saudi Vision 2030. Al-Riyadh newspaper reported in its editorial that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to different countries and international organizations concerned with this matter, has succeeded in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its different stages. In this fight against the pandemic, the Saudi government achieved what major countries could not achieve, as Saudi Arabia's main goal is protecting human life. The newspaper added that Saudi Arabia's tackling of the pandemic is not only limited to the health aspect, but rather it extends and covers the humanitarian side. The leadership has been keen on mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on those affected. Several initiatives in this regard were launched to provide assistance to families whose income was affected by the pandemic. This is in addition to supporting small and medium enterprises. As a continuation of these efforts and initiatives, concerned agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have started extending SAR 500,000 in financial assistance to families of healthcare workers who died from COVID-19. The beneficiaries of the financial assistance include kin of both the deceased Saudi and expatriate health workers and will cover both civilian and military personnel working in the government and private healthcare sectors. This comes in implementation of the Council of Ministers' decision and in recognition of the healthcare workers' services and sacrifices, especially those on the front lines fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The newspaper concluded that the details of this decision reflect the Saudi government's exceptional interest in the health sector workers. Al-Yaum newspaper reported in its editorial that the novel Coronavirus pandemic had caused a global economic crisis. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, concerned authorities took all precautionary and preventive measures to protect human health and the economy showed exceptional strength. In this regard, the General Authority for Statistics issued on Monday the flash estimates of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for the second quarter of 2021. According to these flash estimates, the GDP of Saudi Arabia recorded a positive growth rate for the first time since the start of COVID-19 pandemic by (1.5%) in Q2/2021, compared to Q2 2020. This positive growth rate was due to the increase in non-oil activities in the same period by (10.1%) in addition to the increase in Government activities by (0.7%). These data affirm the strength of the Saudi economy that is capable of facing all challenges, the paper concluded.
