Saudi Arabia may extend private sector stimulus beyond 2021: official

Saudi Arabia is studying to extend its non-oil stimulus beyond 2021, Naif Al-Rasheed, managing director of the Private Sector Stimulus Office, told Bloomberg.

The program is earmarking SAR 36 billion to boost private-sector growth this year, on top of the SAR 40 billion already spent.

The office expects to spend SAR 22 billion and SAR 25 billion in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

It’s also looking for ways to allocate the remainder of about SAR 77 billion it has in its budget, Al-Rasheed added.

The spending planned by 2021 is expected to contribute more than SAR 150 billion to the economy and create more than 86,000 jobs.

“The office has a long-term mandate to continuously support the private sector through economic cycles,” Al-Rasheed said.

The office is focusing on companies in the real estate, hospitality, healthcare and education sectors.

Over 313,000 companies, accounting for almost 70% of all active businesses, have benefited from spending by the stimulus office, he concluded.

Saudi Arabia had allocated SAR 200 billion to support private sector investments until 2020, Argaam reported.