Saudi Expert Calls to Face Int’l Threats with Economic Security Policies

Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Economy and Planning Raja al-Marzoqi during the lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Economy and Planning Raja al-Marzoqi during the lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Expert Calls to Face Int’l Threats with Economic Security Policies

Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Economy and Planning Raja al-Marzoqi during the lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Economy and Planning Raja al-Marzoqi during the lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Cybersecurity, which emerged with the industrial revolution and the transformation of the digital economy, has become the most dangerous threat to economic security and reflects negatively on national security, according to a Saudi financial expert.

Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Economy and Planning Raja al-Marzoqi called for adopting development and comprehensive growth to achieve economic security, one of the essential factors for national security amid structural changes in the international system and the acceleration of economic globalization.

Speaking during a lecture at the Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies (IDS) in Riyadh on economic security and its importance in national security amid international developments, Marzoqi explained that the risks include ownership, espionage, access to confidential websites and information, sabotage, abuse of power, corruption, fraud, and social and economic inequality.

Marzoqi warned that these risks negatively affect economic growth, saying that international reality and interdependence facilitated the transmission of these risks between the countries.

During the lecture, the expert touched on the concept of economic security and its importance, pointing out that it has emerged more globally after World War II and the spread of globalization.

World governments were partially dependent on military forces to achieve economic security, and the world was based on disputes to achieve economic interests due to its association with human interests.

However, the use of force to achieve economic interests decreased during the past century, said the expert, noting that nations now use monetary policies to improve their national economic competitiveness.

Marzoqi indicated that international economic cooperation contributed to reducing conflicts and wars while relying on improving competitiveness and opening markets. In addition, the second and third industrial revolutions, especially in communications, transportation, and production, significantly led to the global growth of per capita income.

According to the expert, economic development is necessary to achieve comprehensive economic growth, increase individual income, and reduce unemployment and poverty rates.

It also helps the government finance other security variables, noting that the state's weak economic capabilities are an existential threat, regardless of its military and political capabilities.

The adviser stated that the countries that focused on improving competitiveness and openness to the global economy achieved economic gains in increasing individual income, decreasing unemployment and poverty, raising their share of the total global revenue, and enhancing their contribution to the worldwide economy.

He referred to five important variables for economic security, namely food consumption and production, the standard of living and income, the ability of civil society and the government to meet people's needs, and the extent to which citizens can meet their basic needs of food, housing, health, and education services safely.



IMF Eyes Revised Global Forecast, but Warns Trade Tensions Still Cloud Outlook

A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
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IMF Eyes Revised Global Forecast, but Warns Trade Tensions Still Cloud Outlook

A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.

The International Monetary Fund warned on Friday that risks related to trade tensions continue to cloud the global economic outlook and uncertainty remains high despite some increased trade and improved financial conditions.

IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said the fund would update its global forecast later in July given "front-loading ahead of tariff increases and some trade diversion," along with improved financial conditions and signs of continued declines in inflation.

In April the IMF slashed its growth forecasts for the United States, China and most countries, citing the impact of US tariffs on imports now at 100-year highs and warning that rising trade tensions would further slow growth.

At the time, it cut its forecast for global growth by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8% for 2025, and by 0.3 percentage points to 3%. Economists expect a slight upward revision when the IMF releases an updated forecast in late July.

According to Reuters, Gopinath told finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies who met this week in South Africa that trade tensions continued to complicate the economic outlook.

"While we will update our global forecast at the end of July, downside risks continue to dominate the outlook and uncertainty remains high," she said, in a text of her remarks.

She urged countries to resolve trade tensions and implement policy changes to address underlying domestic imbalances, including scaling back fiscal outlays and putting debt on a sustainable path.

Gopinath also underscored the need for monetary policy officials to carefully calibrate their decisions to specific circumstances in their countries, and stressed the need to protect central bank independence. This was a key theme in the G20 communique released by finance officials.

Gopinath said capital flows to emerging markets and developing economies remained sluggish, but resilient, in the face of increased policy uncertainty and market volatility. For many borrowers, financing conditions remained tight.

For countries with unsustainable debt, proactive moves were essential, Gopinath said, repeating the IMF's call for timely and efficient debt restructuring mechanisms.

More work was needed on that issue, including allowing middle-income countries to access the G20's Common Framework for Debt Restructuring, she said.