Point-of-sale (POS) transactions in Saudi Arabia rose 28 percent to SAR19.3 billion (USD5.1 billion) in September from SAR15.1 billion (USD4 billion) a year earlier, figures from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) showed.
Data showed that 88.5 million transactions were processed through nearly 339,000 points-of-sales in shopping malls, retail stores and pharmacies.
Based on the main economic indicators issued by SAMA on Sunday, the Saudi economy achieved during the second quarter a growth of 1.61 percent, greater than the growth rates achieved in the first quarter of this year.
Saudi Arabia’s economic growth is set to rise to 2.5 percent by the end of this year and 2.7 percent in 2019, according to new forecasts from Moody’s Investors Service, instead of its previous expectations of 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent for the same period.
Moody’s has given Saudi Arabia an A1 stable rating with a stable outlook.
It expects developments in the non-oil sector to contribute to stronger GDP growth. In its recent review, Moody’s noted that plans to diversify the Kingdom’s economy away from oil are likely to contribute to the country’s medium and long-term growth.
These revised numbers from Moody’s even exceed the forecasts of the Government announced in the preliminary statement of the 2019 budget announcement.
Public debt is expected to remain well below 25 percent of GDP in the medium term and small relative to the government’s robust financial buffers.
