muhammad al - jasser : saudi arabia ’ s economic developments in 2010 / 11 speech by his excellency dr muhammad al - jasser, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency ( sama ), to the custodian of the two holy mosques, on the occasion of presenting the forty - seventh annual report of the saudi arabian monetary agency, riyadh, 12 december 2011. * * * custodian of the two holy mosques, it is of great pleasure that the meeting with you is renewed while you enjoy, thanks to allah, good health. our country is continuing, under your wise leadership, the march of development and prosperity in an extraordinary solidarity between leadership and citizens. i am pleased to submit the forty - seventh annual report of the saudi arabian monetary agency, which deals with economic developments in 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. custodian of the two holy mosques, the global economy is still suffering from the weakness caused by the global financial crisis and the resulting problems of sovereign debts of a number of states in the industrialized world. however, our domestic economy, thanks to allah, has avoided the pitfalls of public and private debt which had strained the economies of many industrialized countries. therefore, our national economy in 2010 continued its growth for the eleventh year in a row, growing by 4. 1 percent, and the non - oil sector by 4. 9 percent. the kingdom achieved a surplus in its budget amounting to 5. 2 percent of gdp, and recorded a surplus in the balance of payments for the twelfth year in a row which stood at rls 250. 3 billion. the inflation rate rose slightly from 5. 1 percent in 2009 to 5. 3 percent in 2010, and stood at 5. 2 percent in october 2011. it is noteworthy that the inflation in recent years resulted from a rise in food prices and rents. the pace of growth in the national economy is expected to accelerate during the current year. several factors contributed to such growth in gdp, including increased government spending to unprecedented levels, a large part of which was devoted to various development projects, and an increase in domestic banks ’ finance to both the public and private sectors. custodian of the two holy mosques, in continuation of your care to fulfill the needs of the citizens and provide the requirements of a decent life, you issued a number of royal decrees, which will, allah willing, contribute to enhancement of the citizens ’ standard of living. you ordered the establishment of the ministry of housing

and approved the building of 500, 000 housing units in all regions of the kingdom over the coming five years with allocations of rls 250 billion. the limit of housing loans extended by the real estate development fund was increased from rls 300, 000 to rls 500, 000 which will hopefully provide more houses for citizens and constrain the inflationary pressures stemming from the increase in house rents. you also ordered setting a minimum wage of rls 3, 000 for all saudi government employees, allocated a monthly amount of rls 2, 000 for job seekers, and raised capital of the saudi credit and saving bank by rls 30 billion. the number of family members covered by the social security was increased from 8 to 15 with an allocation of rls one billion for that purpose. the government subsidies for charity associations rose by 50 percent to rls 450 million annually, and needy families ’ sons and daughters were supported to join bis central bankers ’ speeches universities through allotting them a portion of seats, facilitating their admission requirements, and exempting them from some tuition fees. this package of honorable royal decrees will enhance the standard of living of the least - income segment of population and promote its ability of saving and, thereby, raise its future productivity and income, and reduce poverty, to which you always attach considerable attention. in the health care arena, you ordered supporting the ministry of health with rls 16 billion in order to carry out the expansion of a number of hospitals and health centers. you increased the maximum limit of the ministry of finance ’ s financing program of private hospitals from rls 50 million to rls 200 million. this would hopefully enhance health care services in the kingdom. under your wise leadership and continuous guidance, the supreme economic council continued to accomplish a number of development steps aimed at restructuring and reorganizing the economy and streamlining regulations and legislation in order to promote the rise of the level and competitiveness of the economy, achieve the optimum operation of the production factors and provide an attractive environment for domestic and foreign investment. as a result, the investment environment has improved. according to the “ doing business report 2012 ” issued by the world bank, the kingdom ranked twelfth among 183 world countries in terms of ease of business performance. the executive board of the international monetary fund noted that the kingdom was well posed to encounter the global financial crisis. however, the sound supervisory and regulatory frameworks significantly contributed to strengthening the capacity of the financial sector to withstand the crisis. the board stressed that