The years from 2012 to 2016 are set to be particularly rewarding for Saudi Arabia as the kingdom looks set to benefit from around US$295 billion a year in revenue from high oil prices
Riyadh-based lender Samba Financial Group said in a statement that hydrocarbon earnings were expected to be $265 billion a year during the same period. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth will average five per cent for the period and inflation is expected to be stable at an average of 5.5 per cent.
“Under our oil price and production assumptions, we expect that the government will have plenty of money to spend during the forecast period,” the bank said. “Government spending will remain the engine of economic growth.”
The government has informed that the GDP will grow at about six per cent in 2012, while the International Monetary Fund had predicted earlier this year that GDP would slow to six per cent from the 6.8 per cent recorded last year.
