The International Monetary Fund on Monday raised its growth forecast for the Saudi Arabian economy on the back of higher oil prices.
In the organization’s World Economic Outlook update, the IMF said the Saudi economy — which contracted by 0.9 percent last year — would grow by 1.9 percent in 2018, up 0.2 percentage points from its April projections, according to the AFP and Arab News.
Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
“This is the third time since October that the organization has raised its growth forecasts for the Kingdom, reflecting soaring oil revenues which make up more than 70 percent of Saudi income,” AFP reports.
But the IMF also predicted that oil prices would eventually moderate, which will keep its Saudi growth projections for 2019 steady at 1.9 percent.
Oil prices have more than doubled since early 2016, and last month, the so-called OPEC+ group including Russia agreed to boost output again to compensate for key supply disruptions in Venezuela and Libya, hopeful to ease prices that have hit $80 a barrel.
