All option­s for dealin­g with the corona­virus crisis are open, says financ­e minist­er Mohamm­ed al-Jadaan­CAIRO: Saudi Arabia will take strict and painful measures to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV, adding that “all options for dealing with the crisis are open”. “We must reduce budget expenditures sharply”, Jadaan said in comments published on Saturday ahead of the interview’s broadcast. ‘Different’ testing mechanism allows Saudi Arabia to ease lockdown during RamazanThe world’s largest oil exporter is suffering from historically low oil prices, while measures to fight the new coronavirus are likely to curb the pace and scale of economic reforms launched by Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia faces coronavirus crisis with strong reserves, low debt-ministerJadaan noted the country had introduced stimulus measures aimed at preserving jobs in the private sector and safeguarding the provision of basic services. Earlier this week he said Riyadh could borrow around $26 billion more this year and would draw down up to $32 billion from its reserves to finance the deficit.

Source: The Express Tribune May 02, 2020 18:11 UTC