east ( king abdullah economic city ), establishment of other economic cities in different parts of the kingdom, establishment of a developed financial center in riyadh city, that includes all financial institutions, setting up a national anti - corruption commission, and establishment of an independent government authority concerned with the development of saudi non - oil exports, called the saudi export development authority. the formation of two committees, one in jeddah governorate and another in dammam city, to settle disputes and violations set forth in article xx of the cooperative insurance companies control law, was approved. other approved decisions are as follows : a decision to allow gcc citizens to exercise the activities of insurance services, transport services, in its different forms, and real estate services, the application of the same national treatment on gcc citizens in the field of jointstock companies ’ shares ownership and trading and gcc citizens real estate ownership regulation in the member states for residential and investment purposes. women right to obtain a housing loan from the real estate development fund, when she is responsible for her family, has also been approved. the ministry of housing has been established and it has received allocations of sar 250 billion. the real estate development fund ’ s maximum real estate loan has been increased to sar 500 thousand from sar 300 thousand. the draft arab agreement on combating cyber crimes and the draft arab agreement on combating money laundering and terrorist financing have been approved. financial leasing law, which aims to provide a funding formula for joint - stock companies specialized in financial leasing, has been approved. sama has been entrusted with the supervision and control function over financial leasing. real estate mortgage law has been approved to provide the necessary guarantees, when practicing real estate finance activities, and define the mortgage contract parties ’ rights and obligations and provide more flexibility in utilizing real estate assets. the real estate finance law, which aims at creating a market for real estate financing, under which specialized joint - stock companies will be established, in cooperation with real estate developers, has been approved to enable beneficiaries from owning real estate in easy ways that protect the concerned parties ’ rights under sama ’ s supervision and control. the finance companies control law has been approved. a committee named : ( finance violations and disputes settlement committee ) has been formed. its powers include, inter alia, settlement of violations, disputes and private and public rights lawsuits, arising from the application of the provisions of the finance companies control law and the financial leasing law. the amendment of the official working days

fahad bin abdullah al - mubarak : economic, financial and supervisory developments in saudi arabia opening speech by h e dr fahad bin abdullah al - mubarak, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, on the occasion of the issuance of the 49th annual report, riyadh, 17 march 2014. * * * it gives me pleasure to meet you today. i would like to welcome you at sama and thank you for attending this conference on the occasion of the issuance of sama 49th annual report. we are deeply sorry for the delay of this gathering for reasons beyond our control. ladies and gentlemen, at the beginning, i would like to review the latest economic developments in the kingdom. our economy continued its growth for the 14th consecutive year. the real gdp grew by 3. 8 percent during 2013, which was greater than the global economic growth of 2. 9 percent for the same year. the private sector grew by 5. 5 percent. the growth of the saudi economy was ascribed to the continuous government investment expenditure, especially on infrastructure projects, and continuous high - paced growth due to the achievements in the area of updating and improving regulations and enhancement of the business environment, which promoted domestic and foreign investments. the growth was also attributed to the finance provided by the domestic banks and specialized credit funds to the various economic activities in the kingdom. according to data of the ministry of finance, the kingdom registered a real surplus of sar 180. 3 billion ( 6. 5 percent of gdp ) in its budget during 2013. the public debt fell to sar 75. 1 billion ( representing 2. 7 percent of gdp ). moreover, the kingdom achieved a surplus of sar 486. 8 billion ( 17. 4 percent of gdp ) in the current account of the balance of payments ( compared to 22. 4 percent in the preceding year ). the inflation rate increased from 2. 9 percent in 2012 to 3. 5 percent in 2013. however, it is still under control. according to the latest data of the central department of statistics and information, the inflation annual rate declined to 2. 8 percent during february 2014, given that the inflation rate in emerging and developing economies was estimated at 6. 2 percent in 2013. inflationary pressures in the kingdom were due to the housing sector and food prices. at the time when a number of industrial countries are witnessing a decline in their credit rating, fitch credit rating agency promoted the kingdom ’ s sovereign credit rating from ( aa - ) to (