VOL. XLVII

No 20

17-May-2004

SAUDI ARABIA

BUDGETS AND REVENUES

Saudi Officials Predict Strong Economic Growth For 2004

Saudi Arabias Finance Minister Ibrahim al-'Assaf and the vice-governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Muhammad al-Jasir have given upbeat assessments of growth prospects for the kingdom in interviews with Reuters news agency this week. Mr 'Assaf said that continuing high oil revenues could boost GDP growth close to the 6.4% seen last year. Mr Jasir, meanwhile, said...