Urgent: Council of Economic Affairs: The Saudi economy grew by 5%, supported by non-oil activities

Hold The Council of Economic and Development Affairs held a meeting via video conference, and at the beginning of the meeting, the Council reviewed the quarterly economic report submitted by Ministry of Economy and Planning, which included an analysis of the latest developments in major economies, global economic prospects, a comprehensive overview of the national economy in its various sectors, future expectations, and the most important hypotheses and drivers supporting growth prospects, indicating that the Kingdom’s economy continues its strong growth, driven by the positive performance of all economic activities.

The Council reviewed the state’s general budget performance report for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025, submitted by the Ministry of Finance, which included a breakdown of the financial performance until the end of the quarter. The third of the current year, indicators of revenues, expenditures, and public debt, and the results they contain confirm the continuation of support for development and service projects, and the implementation of government reforms aimed at achieving financial sustainability, and diversifying sources of income within the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The Council discussed the report submitted by the Ministry of Health regarding the progress achieved in the path of health transformation, especially with regard to completing regulatory and operational requirements and readiness to begin implementing the second phase of the transformation, aimed at empowering the health company. Holding Company and the National Health Insurance Center as one of the main pillars in restructuring the health sector, as the report reviewed the goals of health transformation and the most prominent steps of its implementation during the last period, including developing the health care model and expanding the scope of application of its preventive and curative paths, which contributed to improving the ease of access to services, raising the quality and efficiency of health care, and enhancing prevention against health risks, in order to achieve the goals of the health sector transformation program within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The Saudi economy grew by (5%) on an annual basis in The third quarter of the current year, supported by the growth of non-oil activities by (4.5%) according to preliminary estimates.

National Health Insurance

The progress made in the process of adopting a draft regulation for the accession of health institutions to the National Health Insurance Center network was also reviewed. This regulation, when completed, will contribute to defining the frameworks for the joining of health institutions and clusters to the Center’s network, and organizing the relationship with it, enabling it to manage an integrated health network based on results, ensuring the achievement of quality health care, and facilitating access for beneficiaries. To, raising their level of satisfaction, ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of health care, in addition to the optimal use of resources in support of enhancing the efficiency of the health care system in the Kingdom.

The Council looked at the joint presentation from the Ministries of Education, Economy and Planning, Human Resources and Social Development, regarding professional accreditation and the study of professional licenses, and the presentation addressed the results of the professional accreditation program in implementing Cabinet Resolution No. (195) regarding ensuring that the expatriate worker obtains the qualifications, skills and practical experience required by the Saudi labor market before entering the Kingdom. After entering it, through the two tracks (professional verification – professional examination), with the aim of regulating the entry of expatriate workers, raising the quality of labor market data, and the level of workforce skills, in addition to the results of the study on organizing and unifying professional licensing procedures in the Kingdom, which reflects positively on labor market data, and raising the efficiency and quality of services provided.

Human Capacity Development Program

The Council reviewed the semi-annual presentation submitted by the Human Capacity Development Program and the Ministry of Information, regarding the progress of work in the (Saudipedia) encyclopedia, and touched on The presentation highlighted the progress of the encyclopedia since its launch in many languages, its growing audience searching for encyclopedic content, and efforts to develop the user experience by relying on artificial intelligence applications to provide information to users, in addition to the future steps of the encyclopedia in enhancing access to the international audience, and its tools in raising work efficiency in a way that reflects the reality of the Kingdom and its progress in all aspects, and serves to consolidate the encyclopedia’s position as a reliable source, and enhances trust between it and users.

The presentation indicated an increase in the volume of the encyclopedia’s appearance on search engines by a percentage 20% during the last months of September and October, compared to July and August, in addition to an increase in the rate of public interaction with the website by more than 70%, which is 10% higher compared to the previous period.

Infection Prevention and Control

The Council followed up on a number of procedural transactions, including the draft organization of the National Curriculum Center, the National Strategy for the Insurance Sector, the Kingdom’s goals regarding the football system, and the draft document on the geographical limits of ownership by non-Saudis. For real estate.

The Council discussed other reports and presentations on its agenda, including: a study of the possibility of establishing professional programs specialized in infection prevention and control, the results of a field survey study to measure the development of food loss and waste rates in the Kingdom, and a study of the application of cognitive development tests for health programs in the Kingdom.

The Council was also informed of the results of the quarterly report on the real estate price index, the two semi-annual reports on government agencies’ consumption of electricity and water, the monthly executive summary of foreign trade, and two summaries of The two monthly reports of the Consumer Price Index and Wholesale Prices, and the basic reports on which the summaries are based. The Council took the necessary decisions and recommendations regarding these issues.

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