Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia
'What they are in need, as they say, is the restoration of confidence. I think that if the big world economies get acquainted with means of cooperation among them, then they will become capable of surpassing the crisis as they surpassed previous crises.' (Al-Siyassah)> Go to the London Summit photostream
Head of State
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has been in power since 1 August 2005. He replaced Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who had reigned since June 1982. Crown prince since 1987, he had previously acted as de facto regent and thus ruler of Saudi Arabia since 1 January 1996 when Fahd was debilitated by a stroke. He was formally enthroned on 3 August 2005. He also serves as prime minister of Saudi Arabia and commander of the National Guard. Abdullah is chair of the supreme economic council, president of the high council for petroleum and minerals, president of the King Abdulaziz centre for national dialogue, chair of the council of civil service and head of the military service council.He was born 1 August 1924, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.
Source: www.g20.utoronto.ca
Latest
17/03/2009
King Abdullah told the cabinet that the Kingdom's economy was capable of facing the economic crisis and that investments and development were underway. The cabinet referred to the G20 Financial Ministers' meeting last week in the UK and hoped that the world leaders who would be meeting in London on 2 April would bring the credit crunch to an end.
11/03/2009
Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of Saudi ArabianGeneral Investment Authority (SAGIA), sought to assure foreigninvestors about the strength of the Saudi economy, saying that the fundamentals of the Kingdom's economy were very strong.
10/03/2009
Al Riyadh reports Lord Malloch Brown's calls for international cooperation to minimise the impact of the global credit crisis, to increase IMF resources to $500bn and for more transparency in financial institutions.
09/03/2009
Lord Malloch-Brown's visit to the Kingdom and talks with the FinanceMinister are reported by Al Eqtisadiah which says he confirmed that he was not seeking additional funds from Saudi Arabia.
Al Sharq al Awsaat focuses on Lord Malloch-Brown's comments on Saudi Arabia's soundeconomy. The Kingdom had managed to protect its banking system from theimpact of the global financial crisis, but its involvement was neededin the process of rescuing the global economy and redrafting financial legislation.
03/03/2009
The price of oil may remain below $70 a barrel even after the global economy recovers, and Gulf economies will be better off for it, a leading expert on the Saudi economy has told Arabian Business. 'If we come out of this in an environment where oil is $60 a barrel and our growth is still good but subdued, I think that is actually better than the over heated environment we were starting to experience,' said Brad Bourland, chief economist at Saudi-based Jadwa Investment.
01/03/2009
Arabian Business cites a report from Bank of America Securities - Merrill Lynch saying that Saudi Arabia appears to be better positioned to weather the downturn and run countercyclical policies. 'We believe that its large savings and relatively low systemic risks offer sufficient room to pursue counter-cyclical policies. The large domestic market in a closed economy increases the effectiveness of these policies', the report says.
17/02/2009
Arab News reported that economists are predicting that growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will decline to 3 per cent in 2009 because of falling oil prices and the difficulty of getting credit for private sector investment. The economists said the slowdown would pressure lawmakers to adopt more flexible rules and regulations to attract both domestic and foreign investment.
04/02/09
A financial group in Riyadh discussed the global impact of the financial crisis and recommended that a new monetary system should replace the 1946 Bretton Woods system. Dr Raja Al-Marzouki of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies said the global economic crisis was creating a historical turning point affecting the structure of the global economy as well as economic relationships - Okaz.
Saudi Arabia
Recent news and events
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Al Arabia television news interviews Lord Malloch Brown
London Summit Envoy, Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch Brown outlined the main issues for world leaders at the forthcoming G20 London Summit in an interview with Al Arabia TV news.