Riyadh — Credit Rating Agency Moody’s has given Kingdom A1 rating with a stable outlook.

It said a stable outlook indicates that credit rating risk is generally balanced so that over time economic reform programs, including balance program plans to reflect positive developments on competitiveness and employment in the private sector as the government aims to achieve fiscal balance by 2023.

It added that it would be possible over time to raise the credit rating of the Kingdom if the structural reforms aimed at diversifying sources of revenues for public finances and the Saudi economy continued.

The agency expected the growth of local production for the years 2019-2020 to reach 2,5% and 2,5% respectively.

Moody’s in its latest report pointed out that plans to diversify the Kingdom’s economy away from oil could contribute to the Kingdom’s long-term economic growth.

It pointed out that the program of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, has strong support at the local level, and the activity to achieve its targets is very high.

In terms of institutional strength, the agency commended the remarkable progress in the indicators of global governance in terms of the Kingdom’s progress in indicators of government effectiveness and control of corruption since 2015.

Moody’s praised the significant increase in non-oil revenues which reached 10.1% in 2018, estimated at 4.5% in 2014, and attributed that mainly to financial reforms such as value added tax and the correction of energy prices.

Moody’s is a credit rating agency founded by John Moody in 1909. It conducts economic research and financial analysis and evaluates private and government institutions in terms of financial and credit strength. — SPA