Finance Minister sees weaker 2019 GDP growth due to OPEC-led cuts
Saudi Arabia’s economic growth in 2019 will be significantly less than the Kingdom had expected because of OPEC-led oil output cuts, but the attack on Aramco had ‘zero’ impact on revenue, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said Wednesday. “Total GDP is going to be significantly less than what we have forecasted,” Al-Jadaan told Reuters in an interview in Riyadh, referring to internal estimates. He said the oil-driven GDP is influenced by Saudi Arabia’s lower petroleum output in the wake of an OPEC-led supply deal to support oil markets. He did not give any projections for 2019 GDP growth, but the IMF has said it could grow 1.9% in 2019, slower than 2.2% in 2018. The Saudi Central Bank had said earlier this year that the economy will grow no less than 2% in 2019. Al-Jadaan said Aramco continues to supply oil to the markets without interruption, which means there is no interruption to oil revenue. “Our focus is on non-oil GDP, that’s where diversification is,” he said, saying non-oil GDP is expected to grow at 2.9% in 2019.
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