Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH —The Council of Ministers held a virtual meeting under the chairmanship of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman here on Tuesday.

At the outset of the meeting, King Salman, who is also the Prime Minister, briefed the Cabinet on the phone call he held with US President Donald Trump, in which they affirmed the historic and strategic relations between the two friendly countries, as well as their keenness on continuing joint efforts to enhance the security and stability of the region.

The Cabinet reviewed the developments with regard to the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts taken at local and international levels to control it, the cases reported in the Kingdom, the medical services provided to the infected people and the efforts exerted by the concerned authorities to maintain the health of the citizens and expatriates.

The Cabinet also reviewed the outcome of the active screening and tests in all regions of the Kingdom which contributed to a low rate of deaths compared to the global rate.

The Cabinet praised the strenuous efforts exerted by the government agencies to combat the coronavirus, stressing that citizens and expatriates should abide by the precautionary and preventive measures to prevent its spread.

In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi said that the Cabinet affirmed Saudi Arabia’s endeavor to support the stability of global oil markets, pointing out the announcement in which Saudi Arabia expressed its commitment to the recent OPEC plus agreement on the cut of crude oil production, as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiative to reduce crude oil production for June by an extra voluntary amount of one million barrels per day, and the Kingdom's endeavor to reduce its production in May in consent with its customers.

The Cabinet said Saudi Arabia's initiatives aim to persuade the countries participating in the OPEC plus agreement and other producing countries to comply with their production cuts commitment and to reduce production in order to contribute to restoring the desired balance of the global oil markets.