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Saudi Council of Economic Affairs Reviews Local and Global Developments

The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs discussed several issues, including the Ministry of Economy and Planning's quarterly report (SPA)
The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs discussed several issues, including the Ministry of Economy and Planning's quarterly report (SPA)
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Saudi Council of Economic Affairs Reviews Local and Global Developments

The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs discussed several issues, including the Ministry of Economy and Planning's quarterly report (SPA)
The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs discussed several issues, including the Ministry of Economy and Planning's quarterly report (SPA)

The Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs has held a videoconference, reviewing the Ministry of Economy and Planning's quarterly report, which covered developments in the global economy and the impact of geopolitical challenges and fluctuations in global markets on growth prospects.

The report also addressed the latest economic developments in the Kingdom and future projections through 2027, highlighting the economy's high resilience in the face of global challenges.

Economic indicators point to remarkable growth, reinforcing the Kingdom’s position among the world's fastest-growing and most stable economies.

The council also reviewed the report on the performance of the state’s general budget for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, submitted by the Ministry of Finance.

The report provided a comprehensive overview of financial performance during the period, including developments in revenues and expenditures and levels of public debt.

The findings highlighted the continued adoption of a balanced and flexible fiscal policy that supports economic growth and strengthens financial sustainability in the medium and long term.

Moreover, the council discussed a number of procedural matters, including the draft Government Tenders and Procurement Law, the draft Space Law, and a briefing on the assignment given to the Council of Universities’ Affairs to update the necessary regulations for the governance of public and private universities and health colleges, as well as to oversee and monitor them periodically. The update also covers compliance processes at public and private universities and health colleges, in line with quality standards approved by the Council of Universities’ Affairs.

The council was also briefed on the quarterly report of the Real Estate Price Index, along with summaries of the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) reports, and the core reports on which the summaries were based.

The council took the necessary decisions and recommendations on these matters.

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Merz Says Germany, China Must Overcome Trade Gaps 'Together'

Chinese Premier Li Qiang welcomes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz with military honors in the Great Hall of the People in in Beijing, China, February 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Chinese Premier Li Qiang welcomes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz with military honors in the Great Hall of the People in in Beijing, China, February 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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Merz Says Germany, China Must Overcome Trade Gaps 'Together'

Chinese Premier Li Qiang welcomes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz with military honors in the Great Hall of the People in in Beijing, China, February 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Chinese Premier Li Qiang welcomes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz with military honors in the Great Hall of the People in in Beijing, China, February 25, 2026. (Reuters)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ended his two-day visit to China on Thursday in the tech hub of Hangzhou, identifying "challenges that we must overcome together" after meeting President Xi Jinping and announcing an Airbus deal.

Merz's first official visit to China came as Berlin and Beijing seek to build on decades-old economic ties to weather global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz and erratic foreign policies, said AFP.

China, the world's number two economy, overtook the United States last year to become Germany's biggest trade partner. At the same time, Berlin regards the Communist Party-run state as a systemic rival to the West.

The German leader was accompanied in China by a large delegation of business leaders, including executives of auto giants Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes.

Merz visited a Mercedes plant in Beijing on Thursday morning, where he was shown a demonstration of self-driving vehicles.

He then travelled to Hangzhou, where he visited the sites of Germany's Siemens Energy and Chinese humanoid robot-maker Unitree.

The eastern city is home to several other major Chinese tech companies like AI unicorn DeepSeek and e-commerce giant Alibaba.

European business leaders, who broadly complain China is flooding the EU market with cheap goods, have urged Merz to keep a cavernous trade imbalance at the top of his agenda.

Germany's trade deficit with China hit a record 89 billion euros ($105 billion) last year.

"We have good cooperation in China. However, there are also some challenges that we must overcome together," Merz said Thursday, singling out "issues relating to competition" and "high capacity in China".

Merz said consultations between his government and Beijing -- interrupted by political developments in Berlin and the pandemic -- would take place "at the beginning of next year at the latest, possibly even this year", with China as host.

- 'New levels' -

Following talks with Xi and top Chinese leaders in the capital on Wednesday, Merz said that China had agreed to purchase up to 120 Airbus aircraft, adding that it "demonstrates how worthwhile such trips can be".

Other contracts were in the pipeline, Merz added.

The two leaders stressed their commitment to developing closer strategic relations, with Xi telling Merz he was willing to take relations to "new levels".

Merz said he had also touched on the sensitive topic of Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its territory and which it has not ruled out the use of force to annex.

Any "reunification" must be done peacefully, Merz said.

He also discussed the Ukraine war with Xi, who, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, said diplomacy was "key to the issue".

Merz said he urged Beijing to use its influence over Moscow, such as choking off the supply of items with potential military uses.

"I hope that in my talks I was able to foster a little understanding for the fact that the leadership of this country should also contribute to ending the war in Ukraine," Merz told reporters on Thursday before departing for Berlin.

Merz was the latest in a string of Western leaders to court Beijing recently.

He follows Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Mark Carney, as they recoil from the mercurial policies of Trump, who is also expected to visit from March 31.

Business

EBRD: Trump Tariff Turmoil Yet to Dent Emerging Countries' Growth

The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London (Reuters)
The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London (Reuters)
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EBRD: Trump Tariff Turmoil Yet to Dent Emerging Countries' Growth

The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London (Reuters)
The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London (Reuters)

US tariffs have rerouted trade, but not dented it as much as feared, allowing larger-than-expected economic growth in certain developing markets, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday.

Growth in the 40 countries covered by the development finance institution rose by a larger-than-forecast 3.4%, but the bank warned that continued trade turmoil could yet derail growth in some of the economies.

"The picture is somewhat more optimistic than in the autumn...and we expect this year and next year to be even better than last year," the EBRD's chief economist Beata Javorcik told Reuters.

Slowing inflation and big ‌spending on infrastructure projects - ‌particularly in Europe - were helping, but the report also ‌showed ⁠that the impacts ⁠of US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs were not as stark as expected.

The bank now expects 3.6% growth this year and 3.7% in 2027 - both a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with its autumn projections.

Exports from some EBRD countries to the United States even grew, particularly those related to the AI boom, as those countries replaced China's exports.

Hungary, the ⁠Czech Republic and Poland all export AI-related products such as ‌servers, processors and computing systems that mean ‌they could benefit from the shift.

But Javorcik warned that the full impact ‌of the tariffs remained unclear; most of the trade tracked by the ‌report arrived in the US prior to the April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariffs, and there was added uncertainty following the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the initial tariffs.

"This turbulence means that policymakers are forced ‌to focus on the urgent, on the shocks that arrive - weekly, if not daily," she said, adding it drained ⁠countries' abilities ⁠to tackle larger problems, such as the demographics "time bomb" and other factors threatening standards of living.

She also said that the "emergency mode" due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, and subsequent increases in defense spending, could drain money from other government priorities and said the ultimate impact would hinge on whether they spend that money on one-off equipment purchases or on infrastructure such as roads and hospitals that could also aid the economy.

The poly-crises, she said, emphasize the need for leaders to ensure that public investments are focused on projects that can drive economic growth.

"Global uncertainty turbulence is likely to persist, and...it's going to be a force detrimental to private investment, and that's why I have been stressing the role of public investment," Javorcik said.

Business

Saudi Arabia Records Highest Quarterly Non-Oil Exports Since 2017

 Jeddah Islamic Port (SPA) 
 Jeddah Islamic Port (SPA) 
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Saudi Arabia Records Highest Quarterly Non-Oil Exports Since 2017

 Jeddah Islamic Port (SPA) 
 Jeddah Islamic Port (SPA) 

Saudi Arabia recorded its highest quarterly level of non-oil exports since 2017 in the fourth quarter of 2025, highlighting a significant structural shift in the Kingdom’s trade dynamics.

Data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed that the merchandise trade surplus rose 26.3 percent year on year in the fourth quarter, driven by strong growth in non-oil exports, which are playing an increasingly pivotal role in strengthening Saudi Arabia’s external balance.

Non-oil exports, including re-exports, climbed a record 18.6 percent to SAR 97 billion ($25.8 billion), marking their highest quarterly level in eight years. These exports covered 39.4 percent of total imports during the period. As a result, the trade surplus widened to SAR 52.5 billion (about $14 billion), its highest level in three years.

Re-exports were the standout performer, surging 67.4 percent to SAR 40 billion ($10.6 billion). The sharp increase was largely fueled by growth in machinery, electrical equipment and appliances, which expanded 79.2 percent and accounted for roughly half of total re-exports.

Overall merchandise exports reached SAR 300 billion ($80 billion) in the fourth quarter, up 7.9 percent compared with the same period in 2024. Oil exports rose 3.5 percent year on year to SAR 203 billion ($54.1 billion). Imports also increased, rising 4.7 percent to SAR 248 billion ($66.1 billion)

Trade data underscored the depth of Saudi Arabia’s commercial ties with major global economies. China remained the Kingdom’s largest trading partner, accounting for 13.1 percent of total exports and 27.2 percent of imports.

The United Arab Emirates ranked second among export destinations, receiving 11.2 percent of Saudi exports.

Other leading export markets included Japan (9.9 percent), followed by India, South Korea, the United States, Bahrain, Egypt, Singapore and Poland. Collectively, these ten countries accounted for 70.9 percent of total Saudi exports.

On the import side, the United States ranked second after China, representing 8.7 percent of total imports. It was followed by the UAE (5.7 percent), Germany, India, Japan, Italy, France, Switzerland and Egypt. Together, these ten countries accounted for 67 percent of the Kingdom’s total imports.

Vision 2030 Driving Diversification

The record performance reflects the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to position the Kingdom as a global logistics hub linking three continents. The exceptional expansion in re-exports and greater reliance on advanced air cargo infrastructure point to tangible progress in building a platform capable of attracting and redistributing high-tech goods and electrical equipment worldwide.

The figures also demonstrate growing economic resilience. Oil exports accounted for 67.5 percent of total exports in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 70.4 percent a year earlier. This gradual diversification of the export base has helped reinforce trade stability, supporting the highest surplus recorded in three years.