Saudi Arabia Selected Issues

This Selected Issues paper suggests that while the government should continue to work on clearly defining its fiscal policy objectives, at this stage the focus of reforms should be to continue to strengthen the fiscal framework rather than on introducing a formal fiscal rule. A fiscal rule is only a...

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: International Monetary Fund Middle East and Central Asia Dept
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. International Monetary Fund 2018
Series:IMF Staff Country Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: International Monetary Fund - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
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300 |a 64 pages 
651 4 |a Saudi Arabia 
653 |a Energy: Demand and Supply 
653 |a Oil prices 
653 |a Finance 
653 |a Labour; income economics 
653 |a Budget Systems 
653 |a Fiscal rules 
653 |a Public finance & taxation 
653 |a Industries: Financial Services 
653 |a Fiscal Policy 
653 |a Budget planning and preparation 
653 |a Fiscal policy 
653 |a Budgeting 
653 |a Labor 
653 |a National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General 
653 |a Expenditure 
653 |a Expenditures, Public 
653 |a Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy 
653 |a Labor market 
653 |a Financial services industry 
653 |a Prices 
653 |a Macroeconomics 
653 |a Public financial management (PFM) 
653 |a Budgeting & financial management 
653 |a National Budget 
653 |a Public Finance 
653 |a Finance: General 
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520 |a This Selected Issues paper suggests that while the government should continue to work on clearly defining its fiscal policy objectives, at this stage the focus of reforms should be to continue to strengthen the fiscal framework rather than on introducing a formal fiscal rule. A fiscal rule is only as good as the institutions that support it. Moreover, resource rich countries’ experiences with fiscal rules have been mixed as it has proven difficult to formulate rules which are simple, flexible, and robust that can withstand large commodity prices swings. One key question before the government is to define its long-term fiscal policy objectives beyond 2023. This will help determine how it may want to anchor fiscal policy. While a target for the overall balance, as announced in the Fiscal Balance Program, is a reasonable objective for the next 5 years, such a target may not deliver the longer-term fiscal goals of the government. It is also subject to swings in oil prices—it may not be achievable if oil prices decline significantly, but if oil prices were to increase substantially, the target could be achieved even if spending were to increase to such a level that increases future fiscal vulnerabilities. Therefore, it would be better to formulate fiscal policy objectives in terms of the primary non-oil balance rather than the overall balance