The Saudi Ministry of Finance expected the domestic product of non-oil activities to grow at a rate of 5.9 percent this year, in light of the positive performance of economic indicators during the first half of this year.
According to the Ministry’s preliminary statement on the 2024 budget, this growth is led by the activity of wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, as the new amendments to the visit visa regulations for the purpose of tourism have contributed to increasing the numbers of visitors and tourists, which reflects positively on private consumption rates.
The first quarter of this year recorded the highest quarterly rate of tourists from outside the Kingdom, with an estimated 7.8 million tourists, a rate of about 64 percent compared to the first quarter of 2019. The Ministry expects that the real GDP will record a growth of 0.03 percent in 2023, due to the voluntary reduction. For oil production, supported by the growth of the domestic product of non-oil activities.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, adapted)
