Saudi Council of Economic, Development Affairs Holds Meeting to Discuss Economic Issues

Saudi Council of Economic, Development Affairs Holds Meeting to Discuss Economic Issues
TT

Saudi Council of Economic, Development Affairs Holds Meeting to Discuss Economic Issues

Saudi Council of Economic, Development Affairs Holds Meeting to Discuss Economic Issues

The Council of Economic and Development Affairs has held a video conference to discuss reports, presentations and topics on its agenda, including the periodic presentation submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Planning on local and global economic developments.
The presentation included an analysis of key indicators of the national economy and the growth rate witnessed recently. It commended the continuous growth of non-oil activities, SPA reported.
It also lauded the high growth rates of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the non-oil private sector for the third year in a row, which reached the highest performance level among the G20 countries.

The council discussed efforts made to develop and diversify the national production of goods and services that have a competitive advantage for the Kingdom, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals to build a thriving economy that improves the country's standing globally.
The presentation addressed priority economic activities that have attractive advantages for the development of the industrial sector, such as metal works, the automobile industry, computer and electronic products, and activities in service sectors such as tourism, transportation and logistics, communications and information technology.
It also touched on opportunities to develop and diversify national goods and services, and raise the level of competitiveness of national production in partnership with the private sector, investors and state-owned companies in a way that supports the growth of non-oil exports and boosts integration in local, regional and international value chains, as well as contributes to increasing local content, improves the Kingdom’s non-oil trade balance, and achieves economic sustainability.

The council tackled the Office of the Strategic Committee of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs’ quarterly report on the programs to achieve Vision 2030.

The meeting reviewed the quarterly presentation submitted by the National Center for Performance Management of Public Entities regarding the performance of public sector entities. It highlighted the performance of different entities and their efforts to achieve Vision 2030, the results of the performance review meetings held by the center in cooperation with the entities, and the corrective measures taken to ensure that targets are reached.

The council also went over the presentation submitted by the National Center for Privatization on the highlights of the presentations submitted by the supervisory committees for privatization projects for H1 of 2023.
The meeting concluded with the necessary decisions and recommendations.



Turkish Annual Inflation Falls More Than Expected to 44.38%

A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
TT

Turkish Annual Inflation Falls More Than Expected to 44.38%

A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo

Turkish annual consumer price inflation fell more than expected to 44.38% in December, official data showed on Friday, with education, housing and restaurant prices leading the rise.

Month on month, inflation was 1.03%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, compared with 2.24% in November. Annual consumer price inflation (CPI) was 47.09% in November.

Furniture prices rose 2.78% from the previous month, data showed, while telecoms-related prices gained by 1.82%.

In a Reuters poll, the annual inflation rate was expected to fall to 45.2%, with the monthly figure seen at 1.61%, owing to easing food price inflation and a limited rise in energy prices.

The latest inflation print was close to the central bank's midpoint prediction of 44% for the end of 2024.

The bank, having kept its main interest rate steady at 50% since March, launched an easing cycle last week, cutting the policy rate by 250 basis points to 47.5%.

The bank said it will set policy "prudently" meeting by meeting with a focus on the inflation outlook while responding to any expected "significant and persistent deterioration".

The Turkish lira was little changed after the data at 35.3850 to the dollar, hovering around the record lows.

The domestic producer price index was up 0.4% month on month in December for an annual rise of 28.52%, the data showed.