RIYADH -- The international credit rating agency "Fitch" has praised the preliminary statement of Saudi Arabia's general budget for the year of 2022.

In a statement published on Tuesday, the agency said the Kingdom maintains large financial reserves, which support Saudi Arabia’s rating and provide greater flexibility to facilitate public financing needs in the context of unstable oil revenues.

The preliminary statement of the Kingdom’s general budget for the year 2022 indicated that Riyadh is targeting a financial reserve in the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) of SR350 billion in 2022 (approximately 11% of GDP according to Fitch estimates), and it is expected to rise in the medium term. Previously, the stability was at a minimum level of SAR 265 billion in 2022-2023.

Furthermore, the preliminary statement of the Kingdom’s general budget for 2022 predicted a stability in the nominal value of the public debt as of 2022, and its decrease as a percentage of GDP to 29.2% in 2023 and 27.6% in 2024. The agency commented that this is less than its expectation on its credit rating report for the Kingdom issued in July 2021, when it affirmed its credit rating for Saudi Arabia at (A) and revised the outlook from negative to stable.

Fitch's comment confirms the positive future directions of the financial policies that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to pursue as an extension of the structural measures and reforms taken by the Kingdom during the past five years in accordance with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. This was positively reflected on the great global confidence in the strength of the Saudi economy and supported the positive outlook for the future of the financial sustainability of the Kingdom. -- SPA