Saudi finance minister stated Wednesday he saw no inflationary pressure building in the Kingdom despite rapid economic growth and government spending of record oil revenues.

Last year, the Saudi economy recorded a 6.5 percent growth and SR214 billion ($57 billion) budget surplus. Despite this economic boom the cost of living index advanced by only 0.4 percent last year and the non-oil GDP deflator was up 1.14 percent. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf told Reuters the inflation rate was “notably low despite a rise in government and private sector expenditure and private sector growth”.

© 2006 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)