In a new sign that confirms the strength and vitality of the Saudi economy, non-oil revenues jumped 48 percent by the end of the third quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year, while the volume of government spending increased 25 percent during the same period.
Saudi cabinet on Tuesday commended these latest figures, which reflect the positive results of reform measures and tremendous efforts to develop the economy.
The cabinet pointed out that the 48 percent growth of non-oil revenues and 25 percent growth of government spending contributed effectively to supporting economic growth.
These positive developments coincided with Saudi Arabia’s announcement of the 2019 budget, where total spending is expected to reach $295 billion, 7 percent higher than this year’s.
Meeting in Riyadh, the government also approved the amendment of Articles (4) and (5) of the Telecommunications Law, as part of its attempt to increase the efficiency of the telecommunications sector and boost the local economy.
Article 4 states that telecommunication services can only be provided through companies offering their shares for public offering, while Article 5 stipulates that license to provide mobile telecommunications services is subject to cabinet’s approval.
The decision to provide mobile telecom services through joint stock companies holds major economic and developmental significance. This decision will improve the financial and administrative performance of companies, in addition to adding value to the local financial market by listing more companies that operate.
Specialized reports show that the number of mobile subscribers by the end of last year was about 40 million, while pre-paid subscribers reached 74.8 percent. Last year’s number of subscriptions to telecommunications services was about 126.7 percent compared to the population.
The Communications and Information Technology Commission reported that the number of landlines at the end of last year was 3.6 million.
Regarding broadband services, the report showed that subscribers over the mobile networks by the end of last year reached 29.7 million, while subscribers through fixed networks reached 2.5 million.
According to the published financial results of listed companies of the ICT sector in the Saudi stock market, positive growth reached 6.04 percent during the first nine months of 2018, compared to the same period last year.
