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Thanks to high oil prices and strong private sector investment, Saudi Arabia has attained strong growth since the recent oil boom that first started in 2003. The economy grew by an average of 4.3 % during 2003-2007, driven by a continued rapid expansion in the non-oil private sector, according to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) survey. Non-oil private growth has averaged 5.4 % during 2003—2007 leading to substantial job creation.
Saudi Arabia continues to play a key role in the stability of the international oil market, according for 22.0 % of global oil reserves and around two-thirds of global spare production capacity of 2 million barrels per day (bpd). Investments of around USD $ 90.0 billion over the next few years will boost crude production output to 12.5 million bpd by 2009 and increase refining capacity. According to the report, Saudi Arabia’s medium-term outlook remains very favourable with growth being sustained by strong private sector investment and increased government spending on key infrastructure.
Recently, the World Bank placed the Kingdom among the top 20 most business-friendly countries in the world in its annual ‘Ease of doing business’ report. The Kingdom ranked ahead of Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait in the Middle East and ahead of even such advanced economies as Germany and Austria. .