and manufacturing industries with 14. 6 percent. small enterprises employing less than five persons have accounted for the bulk share, representing 45. 5 percent of total enterprises at the end of 1430ah, enterprises with 5 – 59 employees constitute 42 percent, while the remaining 3. 8 percent has been accounted for by enterprises with more than 60 employees. these data show that most enterprises in saudi arabia are small ones, based on the number of employees. the sme ’ s contribution to total gdp is low. the share of private sector gross product, which smes are part of, is 33 percent, while the share of smes in gdp is 57 percent in japan, 64. 3 percent in spain, 56 percent in france, 44 percent in austria, 43 percent in canada, 33 percent in australia and more than 50 percent in the united states. the sme ’ s modest contribution to gdp in saudi arabia could be ascribed to the immensity of the oil and public sectors, being the main catalyst for economic activity. smes coverage in the national income accounts might be low. dear audience, small and medium enterprises are facing clear challenges to obtain the necessary funding to meet their expansion needs because of several reasons ; one of which is the lack of guarantees for granting credit. to overcome this problem in the kingdom, the ministry of finance, in cooperation with saudi banks, has established “ kafalah program ” for financing small and medium enterprises. it is a program administered by the saudi industrial development fund with a capital of rls 200 million to cover a proportion of the risk of the funding entity in case the guaranteed enterprise fails to repay the finance or part thereof, and to encourage banks to finance viable small and medium enterprises, which cannot provide the necessary guarantees or accounting records that prove their eligibility for funding. the program has been performing well since its inception in 2006 up to the end of 2010. the number of guarantees approved during the period amounted to 1, 668 with a total value of rls 644 million against loans to the tune of rls1. 6 billion granted by banks under the umbrella of the program, which benefited about 1, 113 small and medium enterprises. this is in addition to loans provided by the saudi credit and savings bank, for financing young people and small enterprises, as well as the centennial fund, and abdul latif jameel ’ s “ finance program ” that provides material support for youth ’ s projects and training courses. dear audience, in conclusion, i wish

2010 ), valuing liabilities in state and local plans ( chestnut hill, mass. : center for retirement research at boston college, june ). see pew center on the states ( 2010 ), the trillion dollar gap : underfunded state retirement systems and the road to reform ( washington : pcs, february ). handled on a pay - as - you - go basis and therefore could impose a substantial fiscal burden in coming years as large numbers of state workers retire. it may be scant comfort, but the united states is not alone in facing fiscal challenges. the global recession has dealt a blow to the fiscal positions of most other advanced economies, and, as in the united states, their expenditures for public health care and pensions are expected to rise substantially in the coming decades as their populations age. 7 indeed, the population of the united states overall is younger than those of a number of european countries as well as japan. 8 the need for fiscal sustainability let me return to the issue of longer - term fiscal sustainability. as i have discussed, projections by the cbo and others show future budget deficits and debts rising indefinitely, and at increasing rates. to be sure, projections are to some degree only hypothetical exercises. almost by definition, unsustainable trajectories of deficits and debts will never actually transpire, because creditors would never be willing to lend to a country in which the fiscal debt relative to the national income is rising without limit. herbert stein, a wise economist, once said, “ if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. ” 9 one way or the other, fiscal adjustments sufficient to stabilize the federal budget will certainly occur at some point. the only real question is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and deliberative process that weighs priorities and gives people plenty of time to adjust to changes in government programs or tax policies, or whether the needed fiscal adjustments will be a rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis. although the choices and tradeoffs necessary to achieve fiscal sustainability are difficult indeed, surely it is better to make these choices deliberatively and thoughtfully. arguably, the imperative to achieve long - term fiscal sustainability is an opportunity as well as a challenge. opportunities for both taxing and spending reforms are ample. for example, most people agree that the u. s. tax code is less efficient and less equitable than it might be ; moreover, the code is excessively complex and imposes heavy administrative and compliance