NEW YORK – Saudi Arabia's permanent delegation to the United Nations has reiterated that illicit financial outflows continued to pose a major threat to the economic stability of states and their national goals of achieving sustainable development, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Saturday.

Delivering the Kingdom's speech during a high-level meeting on International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Asset Return, First Secretary Bandar Al-Nahdi, chairman of the Finance and Economic Committee, said the illicit financial flows were constantly increasing beyond detection, resulting in distorting macroeconomic stability, creating severe complications for developing countries that cannot afford more burdens and denying them the resources needed to advance their economic, social and cultural rights, in particular the right of development. – SPA