press conference<\/a> of the International Monetary and Financial Committee during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Oct. 17, Mohammed Al-Jadaan said most Gulf Cooperation Council countries were better positioned to withstand disruptions than other economies in the Middle East and North Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe minister, who chairs the IMFC, said countries across the region entered the latest period of instability from different economic positions, with some benefiting from years of reforms while others faced limited financial resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is the group who came to these shocks prepared. They did a lot of homework, they did structural reforms, they built buffers, so they are way more able to deal with the shock,\u201d Al-Jadaan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that most GCC countries belonged to the better-prepared group, while others entered the crisis already facing significant economic difficulties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saudi resilience\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Jadaan emphasized the importance of the Kingdom\u2019s energy investments in limiting the wider economic consequences of regional instability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was not for, for example, investments that were made by countries like Saudi Arabia, the shock from the energy crisis would have been a lot worse,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who joined the briefing, agreed that the benefits extended to the global economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The remarks follow S&P Global Ratings\u2019 September decision to affirm the Kingdom\u2019s sovereign credit rating at \u201cA+\u201d with a stable outlook, reflecting its assessment that Saudi Arabia could withstand pressures from the ongoing Middle East conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agency cited the country\u2019s diversified energy export infrastructure, including its ability to redirect crude exports through the East-West pipeline, alongside substantial oil storage and refining capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Separately, IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department Director Jihad Azour told Asharq Bloomberg in an Oct. 15 interview that six economic buffers had helped Gulf economies withstand the oil crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These included diversified export routes, broader economic activity, strong financial reserves, swift policy intervention, regional cooperation and experience in managing previous shocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global pressures\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turning to the international outlook, Al-Jadaan warned that conflicts, trade tensions and rising debt were threatening economic stability despite continued global resilience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message from the IMFC members is clear. There is no room for complacency,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He called for credible medium-term fiscal plans to rebuild financial buffers while protecting vulnerable populations and investments supporting economic growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The minister also stressed the importance of central bank independence in maintaining price stability and policy credibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IMFC members reaffirmed their commitment to timely and coordinated sovereign debt restructuring, including through the G20 Common Framework, while emphasizing secure energy flows and freedom of navigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IMF cooperation\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Jadaan welcomed members\u2019 commitment to a strong, adequately resourced and quota-based IMF, with the Diriyah Guiding Principles guiding discussions on future governance reforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The committee also welcomed policy reviews covering surveillance, debt analysis, lending and capacity development.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Georgieva said the meetings reflected optimism about economic resilience alongside concerns over inflation, debt and artificial intelligence risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Jadaan similarly acknowledged AI\u2019s potential to boost productivity while warning that its benefits could be unevenly distributed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLasting stability and prosperity can only be achieved through greater economic integration, not fragmentation,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The committee\u2019s statement also welcomed the extension of Al-Jadaan\u2019s term as IMFC chair by one year.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: Saudi Arabia\u2019s energy investments helped limit the impact of the global energy shock, while structural reforms and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,1344,6714,5386,254367,56,54,55,10013],"class_list":["post-806580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-energy","tag-gcc","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-saudi-finance-minister-mohammed-al-jadaan","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-vision-2030"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}