GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES
 

Diwan of King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz & Prime Minister

                Riyadh Tel: 488 2222

                Jeddah Tel: 665 4233

Diwan of H.R.H. The Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister & Head of the National Guard

                Riyadh Tel: 488 2222 

                Jeddah Tel: 665 4233

Office of H.R.H. The Second Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Defence & Aviation

                Riyadh Tel: 441 6055 - Jeddah Tel:663 1666

Council of Ministers

                Tel: 488 2555  - P.O. Box 21433  - Riyadh 11475

Ministry of Agriculture & Water Resources

                Tel: 401 6666, Fax: 403 1415 -  Riyadh-11195

Ministry of Commerce

                Tel: 401 2222, Fax: 403 8421 - Riyadh-11162

Ministry of Communications

                Tel: 404 3000 Fax: 403 1401 - Riyadh-11178

Ministry of Defence & Aviation

                Tel: 478 5900 Fax: 401 1336 - Riyadh-11165

Ministry of Education

                Tel: 404 2888 Fax: 401 2365 - Riyadh 11148

Ministry of Finance & National Economy

                Tel: 405 0000 Fax: 405 9502 - Riyadh-11177

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

                Riyadh Tel: 406 7777  - Fax: 403 0159

                P.O. Box 55937 Riyadh-11124

Ministry of Hajj

                Tel: 402 2200 Fax: 402 2555 - Riyadh-11183

Ministry of Health

                Tel: 401 2220 Fax: 402 9876 - Riyadh-11176

Ministry of Higher Education

                Tel: 464 4444 Fax: 441 9004 - Riyadh-11153

Ministry of Industry & Electricity

                Tel: 477 6666, Fax: 477 5451  -  Riyadh-11127

Ministry of Information

                Tel: 401 4440, Fax: 402 3570 - PO Box 570, Riyadh-11161

Ministry of Interior

                Tel:401 1944 Fax: 403 1185 -  P.O. Box 2933  Riyadh-11134

Ministry of Justice

                Tel: 405 7777  -  Riyadh-11137

Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs

                Tel:477 1480 Fax: 477 7336 - Riyadh-11157

Ministry of Municipal & Rural Affairs

                Tel: 441 5434 -  PO Box 955,  Riyadh-11136

Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources

                Tel: 478 1133, Fax: 479 3596 - PO Box 757, Riyadh-11189

Ministry of Pilgrimage & Endowments

                Tel: 402 2200 Fax: 402 2555 - Riyadh-11183

Ministry of Planning

                Tel: 401 3333  Fax: 402 7797 - PO Box 5131 Riyadh-11182

Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs & Telecom-munications

                Tel: 463 7225 Fax: 405 2310 - Riyadh-11112

Ministry of Public Works & Housing

                Tel:  402 2268 Fax: 402 2723 - (Public Works) 4067376 (Housing)

                P.O. Box 56095, Riyadh 11554

GCC Commercial Arbitration

                Tel:  482 7777 Fax: 482 9089 - P.O. Box 7153, Riyadh 11462
 

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

IMPRESSIVE TRENDS

Saudi Arabia’s economic performance has been impressive as a result of record high oil prices, increased oil production, sustained structural reforms, and continued macroeconomic stability. Real GDP growth in 2005 was strong (6.6 percent) with oil and non-oil GDP growing at 5.9 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively. Inflation remained very low at 0.7 percent, reflecting mainly the very open and flexible labor market and the open trade system.

Economic Growth
External and fiscal developments were dominated by the high world market oil prices. The external current account surplus increased by 8.6 percentage points to reach 29.3 percent of GDP in 2005. The central government overall surplus almost doubled to 18.4 percent of GDP, despite a sharp increase in expenditures. A part of the surplus was used to reduce central government debt by 25 percentage point to 39.6 percent of GDP. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s (SAMA) net foreign assets increased by $66 billion to $150.5 billion, an equivalent of around 16 months of imports of goods and services.

Strong economic fundamentals, high investor optimism, and a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector (39 percent) helped sustain the stock market boom in 2005. The Tadawul All Share Index increased by 104 percent in 2005, and further by 24 percent to reach its peak on February 25, 2006. Thereafter, the index declined by about 45 percent through end-May 2006 (33 percent below the beginning of the year level), but still remained at 3½ times above its end-2002 level. The banking sector performance strengthened further in 2005, partly due to income from stock market-related activity. SAMA introduced measures to limit bank credit exposure to the equity market and strengthened oversight. Despite increases in international interest rates, SAMA did not revise the benchmark interest rates from February to June 2006, but increased the repo and reverse repo rates by 20 basis points on June 29, 2006, broadly in line with the latest increase in the Fed funds rate. The Saudi riyal appreciated by 3.4 percent in real effective terms during the 12-month period through March 2006, reflecting the movement of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies.

The Future
Prospects are very favorable in light of the expected sustained increase in global demand for oil. Real GDP growth is expected to remain robust at almost 6 percent despite lower oil sector growth (1.6 percent). Inflation in the first quarter of 2006 was about 2 percent (on an annual basis). Both the external current account and the central government overall fiscal balances are expected to register substantial surpluses of 31.1 percent of GDP and 17.2 percent of GDP, respectively. Reflecting the government policy to use a part of the fiscal surplus to reduce public debt, central government debt is projected to decline by around 23 percentage points to 17 percent to GDP. SAMA’s net foreign assets are projected to increase further to $167 billion, equivalent to 15 months of imports of goods and services.

Steady implementation of structural reforms has improved the investment climate and paved the way for Saudi Arabia’s accession to the WTO in December 2005. In order to sustain the momentum, privatization of government activities is being advanced steadily and a large number of mega projects in the nonoil sector are being implemented through publicprivate partnerships. The Saudiization policy, aimed at creating private sector employment for Saudi nationals, continued to be applied in a flexible manner, thus contributing to wage and price stability in an environment of accelerating economic growth.