14/05/2018
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asharqia Chamber, Abdul Hakim bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khalidi, praised the approval of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (Financial Sector Development Program 2020). He stressed that the development of the financial sector is a necessary step in light of the current economic changes that are taking place in the Kingdom in order to achieve a diversified and prosperous economy. He pointed out that the development of an advanced financial sector contributes effectively to achieve the objectives of the economic development of the Kingdom.
Al-Khalidi said that the development of the financial sector is one of the ten programs launched by the Council in April last year, which will enable financial institutions of all kinds to support and promote the growth of the business sector, especially small and medium enterprises by increasing lending to 5% by 2020. This leads inevitably to increase the efficiency of these enterprises production and operational in the system of the national economy. It is also opening the way for the business sector to extract new licenses in the provision of financial services and raise the share of mortgages in financing and increase the depth of the insurance market.
He added, "The program will add attractiveness to the Saudi financial market for both local and foreign investors. It will inevitably deepen the capital market, increase liquidity, increase investment opportunities, increase financial stability and support the vision of the Kingdom of 2030 by diversifying the sources of the national economy."
Al-Khalidi stressed that the adoption of the program and the start of work in the implementation of its objectives, is an important step in addressing more than one challenge in the face of the financial sector in the Kingdom such as the limited sources of funding to the business sector and raising the coverage of financial services. Also, the proportion of bank account holders would reach to 90% and more as it is in the developed countries financially, and other related issues in the financial sector, such as pushing for automation in all financial transactions, creating a well-established savings culture and generating new job opportunities in the financial sector.
