Weekly Market Brief – 12/9/2022

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Saudi Arabia has released its 2023 state budget forecasts, where expenditures are expected to be SAR1.1 trillion ($290 billion) with an expected surplus of SAR16 billion ($4.3 billion), according to the Ministry of Finance. Total expenditures for 2022 are expected to reach SAR1.1 trillion ($290 billion), with an estimated surplus of SAR102 billion ($27.1 billion). This is the first recorded surplus for the Kingdom in 9 years.

• Saudi Arabia has issued permits for 725 industrial projects worth an accumulated SAR1.4 trillion ($265 billion) in the first nine months of 2022, according to the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. By the end of September, the total number of industrial projects in the Kingdom hit 10,728, an increase of 5.26 percent YoY from 10,192.

• Industrial production in Saudi Arabia rose by 14.1 percent YoY in October of 2022, slowing from a 15.7 percent gain in the prior month while marking the 12^th consecutive month of double-digit growth. The latest reading pointed to the softest pace in industrial output since January, amid a slower rise in mining and quarrying output of 12 percent compared to September’s 14 percent.