Saudi Arabia's GDP contracts 3.3% in Q1 on oil output, non-oil economy recovers
- 3 years ago
Saudi Arabia's economy shrank 3.3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, hit by oil output cuts, but the non-oil economy expanded 3.3%, recovering from the pandemic, according to flash government estimates on Monday.
The non-oil sector grew for the first time since the first quarter of 2020, the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia said in a statement. Government services also showed growth of 0.3% in the first quarter.
Saudi Arabia's economy, the largest in the Arab world, is expected to grow 2.1% in 2021 after shrinking 4.1% last year amid the twin shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil prices, the IMF said in a recent report. read more
The latest data showed overall GDP in the first quarter was hurt by a 12% decline in ongoing crude oil production cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and their allies, a group known as OPEC+ since May 2020.
Seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter the economy shrank by only 0.1%, while the non-oil economy expanded 4%, the data showed. Government services grew by 0.5%.
Saudi Arabia is trying to boost the non-oil sector through a multi-trillion dollar spending push that will require state companies to cut the dividends they pay the government to boost capital spending, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said.
Source: Reuters
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