Economic indicators for the Saudi economy in April reflected the impact of COVID-19 containment measures on the local economy, with PMI remaining in contractionary territory, Jadwa Investment said in its recently-released chartbook.
Graphic via Jadwa Investment.
“Both cash withdrawals and POS transactions fell sharply in April by 35 and 33 percent year-on-year, respectively. Looking ahead, we expect to see a rebound in POS transactions in May and June, in -line with easing of COVID-19 containment measures, and a rise in consumption prior to a hike in VAT from 5 to 15 percent in July,” Jadwa said.
The net monthly change to government accounts with SAMA decreased by SR15 billion ($4 billion) month-on-month in April. SAMA FX reserves declined to stand at $449 billion. As the Ministry of Finance highlighted, a large portion of this decline was attributable to an exceptional transfer of $25 billion to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) during the month.
[Click here to read the full report from Jadwa Investment] [Arabic]
