DUBAI (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday kept its 2022 economic growth forecast for Saudi Arabia unchanged, while encouraging the kingdom to maintain its oil revenues in a “sustainable manner” as it benefits from booming prices.
The IMF said in its “Country Focus” on Saudi Arabia, published on its website on Wednesday, that its economy would grow by 7.6% this year, unchanged from its most recent forecast, and that inflation was expected to remain at 2.8% for the year.
“Managing oil revenues in a sustainable manner, so that spending does not rise and fall in line with the price of oil, would promote fiscal sustainability and prevent a return to previous oil-driven cycles of boom and bust,” the IMF said.
“So too would far-sighted budget planning and policies to diversify the economy,” the IMF added.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Alexander Smith and David Evans)
