Business & Money | Saturday 4 November, 2017 4:13 am |

Fitch Ratings Agency today confirmed the strength of Saudi Arabia's economy and the effectiveness of economic reforms being carried out by the government of the Kingdom. 

In addition, Fitch affirmed the Kingdom's strong credit rating at ‘A+’ with stable outlook. 

Fitch said that Saudi Arabia’s ratings are "supported by strong fiscal and external balance sheets, including exceptionally high international reserves, low government debt, significant government assets and strong commitment to an ambitious reform agenda."

The Fitch report said central government deficit is expected to narrow to 8.7 percent of GDP in 2017, from 17.2 percent in 2016, largely as a result of higher oil prices and because clearance of arrears that widened the 2016 deficit by 4.4 percent of GDP will no longer be necessary. 

Fitch praised the strength of the Saudi banking system, where it classified the banking sector in the Kingdom as "A", which is a very strong rating with only four countries in the world receiving such higher rating.