Saudi Economy Set to Grow Faster Than US, IMF Says

Saudi Arabia’s economic growth will most likely outpace that of the United States this year driven by the high oil prices, the recently published report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows.

According to IMF’s Article IV consultation report, the Kingdom is likely to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in 2022 thanks to the sweeping pro-business reforms and a sharp rise in oil prices and production power recovery from the recession induced by 2020.

Saudi economy contracted by 3.4% as a result of the economic hit from the Covid pandemic in 2020.

The report predicted that the Saudi gross domestic product would expand by 7.6% – the fastest growth in almost a decade – while the US is projected to see real domestic GDP growth at 2.3%, less than half of last year’s rate of 5.7%, due to the high inflation predicted until 2023.

Saudi Arabia is expected to maintain 2.8% average inflation through the year while, as the report noted, the US economy will be dealing with a number of headwinds with inflation expected to average 6.6%.

Meanwhile, the economic outlook of Saudi Arabia, according to the IMF, will depend on whether the Kingdom overspends its extra oil revenue.

Meanwhile, the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022, a report issued by the Global Competitiveness Center for the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), showed that the Kingdom has also made significant progress in education, research, and innovation indicators, jumping in general ranking to 24th place, up from 32nd in 2021.

In the education indicator, Saudi Arabia advanced four positions, coming in 37th place, while there’s significantly larger progress of nine places in the university education achievements index, where the Kingdom climbed on 28th place this year, up from 37th in 2021.

In the report’s scientific infrastructure indicator, it advanced two places, climbing to 30th place compared to 32nd in 2021.

Maintaining a consistent upward trajectory since 2018, Saudi Arabia ranked 34^th in the infrastructure indicators, one of the report’s main indexes, as a result of previously mentioned achievements.