The Riyadh Economic Forum held the Third Discussion Seminar to follow-up the progress of General Financial Reforms and their Effect on the Economic Development study in the Kingdom. This study is within the studies of the Forum in its ninth session due to be held under the auspices of His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at the end of year 2019.
The Consultation Office in charge of preparing the study of the participants in the seminar, reviewing the progress of the study preparation and its findings in accordance with the methodology adopted to achieve its goals. The participants made some remarks on some of the results and recommendation concluded by the study in some axes.
The seminar was preside by Mr. Hamad Al Shuwa'er, the vice Chairman of Board of Directors of Riyadh Chamber and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Riyadh Economic Forum, in which he stressed the importance of the seminar in providing an opportunity to businessmen, businesswomen and those interested in economic affairs. In order to express their views about the study topics and the results concluded with the aim of benefiting from them in supporting the efforts of those preparing them with the aim of reaching results to support the national economy and achieve the objectives of 2030 vision.
After that the members of Consultation Office gave a presentation of the study in which they indicated that it aimed at analyzing and evaluating the economic effects of the general financial reforms on the development efforts. They clarified that the findings of the study indicated that the financial reforms would accelerate the economic development in the long-run. Also, its effectiveness in this growth would depend on the structure of the public revenues, the style of using the financial surpluses, ways of financing the budget deficiency and the size of government spending.
Also, the study confirmed that the implementation of achieving the financial balance programs resulted in a set of positive developments in the general budget ( 2017 – 2019 ). The study showed a relative improvement of the public revenues in 2019 compared to the year 2017. The study indicated that the basic engines of the economic diversification to achieve the vision objectives are represented in the development of the small and medium enterprises, revitalization of the private investment and the development of the foreign trade systems as it sought to clarify the effects of the financial reforms on them and the future prospects of these three sectors.
It is noteworthy that the study will be presented in the ninth session of the forum. It aims at identifying the extent of the impact of the general financial reforms on the economic growth and development in the Kingdom. This will be through the identification of the effects of the general financial reforms programs on the medium and long-term economic growth and development. Also, their impact on the achievement of the economic diversification especially the diversification of the public revenues, rationalization and enhancement of the efficiency of public spending and measuring their effect on the promotion of the competitive and investment environment of the Saudi economy compared to the international economies.