Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia is likely to witness an economic contraction this year, but less sharply than the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) predictions, Reuters reported quoting the kingdom’s Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al Jadaan, as saying

“I hope, and I’m challenging Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, that what we will record way less than what they expect in terms of the 2020 negative growth,” the minister remarked.

The IMF forecasts the Saudi economy to shrink by 6.8% this year, a prediction previously described by Saudi officials as gloomier than their own estimates.

The world’s top oil exporter is suffering a twin-shock of the coronavirus pandemic and tumbling oil prices.

“We faced an oil market shock and a plunge in revenue, but … we managed to overcome that very well all over the year. We expect a very healthy growth towards the end of 2020,” Al Jadaan pointed out.