Weekly Market Brief – 10/15/2021

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Annual inflation in Saudi Arabia rose 0.6 percent in September amid higher food prices (+2.6 percent). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2 percent while producer prices rose 0.5 percent. Wholesalers reported rising costs on material inputs and capital goods as supply chain complications are increasing prices across most sectors of the economy. The impact of rising energy prices on consumers was mitigated by a gas cap subsidy reintroduced by the government in July.

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised Saudi Arabia’s 2021 growth forecast to 2.8 percent, up from 2.4 percent in its latest World Economic Outlook report. IMF maintained its forecast of 4.8 percent growth forecast for Saudi Arabia in 2022. The IMF slightly lowered global growth projections by 0.1 percent to an expected 5.9 percent expansion in the global economy.

• Credit facilities extended by the banking sector and finance firms in Saudi Arabia to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) amounted to SAR198.2 billion ($53 billion) by the end of Q2 2021, an increase of 25 percent YoY from SAR158.03 billion ($42 billion).