The American multinational investment bank “Goldman Sachs” raised its forecasts for the Saudi oil production and economic growth as crude oil prices rose above $70 a barrel. It also expected that the Saudi oil production will increase by about 500,000 barrels per day, to reach 10 million barrels by the end of 2021 and 10.5 million barrels in 2022. The bank also raised its forecast for the Saudi GDP growth to 4.5 percent this year, compared to 2.5 percent previously.
The bank expected the economy of the largest oil exporting country in the world to grow by 7 percent in 2022, compared to previous growth forecasts of 5.7 percent, followed by a growth rate of 1.2 percent, unchanged, in 2023 and 2024.
In turn, the Research Center at “Al Rajhi Capital” revealed that the level of borrowing has increased to 34 percent of the Kingdom's GDP, and accordingly, the improvement in domestic product is a good number in maintaining this ratio, and in strengthening the credit rating. Pointing out to the improvement of the Kingdom's budget, which is an aspect no less important than the improvement of the domestic product, explaining that the deficit has fallen dramatically from 141 billion riyals to 63 billion riyals, due to the increase in the rate of oil production from previous estimates of 8.6 million barrels per day to 9 million barrels, knowing that the average price of a barrel increased to $65, compared to previous estimates of $48.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net Website, Edited)
