Economics saves from political drowning

While some governments of the rentier system insist on expanding analyses, political struggles and various ideological elements, there is a decline in interest in the economics and management of depleting oil resources towards diversification in other governments, to the point where the interests of the economy and the welfare of the population are above all else, and the standard of success becomes the clamor of industry, agriculture and technology and the accompanying development of human resources versus a whisper of politics and ideology.

Such a conclusion is prompted by what Moody's published regarding the new credit rating of the Saudi economy, which reached Aa3 with a stable outlook after it was A1 for this agency eight years ago with a positive outlook for the future. It means an improvement in the country's credit capacity, including its entry into bond markets and the acceptance of its financing proposals with lower interest rates. Rather, more importantly, Saudi banks and other financial institutions enjoy the advantage of the new rating after they were unable to market their financing except with the old rating because financial institutions cannot exceed the country's rating.

Iraq, for example, is classified as B-, and therefore the highest that its banks can be classified with is the same classification or less. A few months ago, the rating of the largest Iraqi bank, TBI, was downgraded.

The credit rating of the macroeconomy and its changes depend on many economic and financial criteria reflected by the levels of financial and economic performance, including the level of public debt, growth rates, and improvement in private sector performance, in addition to non-oil revenues and non-oil GDP performance. The sum of these criteria leads to an improvement in the level of economic diversification of the rentier state subject to the classification, which is the most important conclusion from the new classification of Saudi Arabia compared to other economies.

The growth rates of non-oil production sectors have increased, expected to reach 4-5%, in addition to non-oil revenues reaching about 40% of total public revenues. In fact, Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports grew by 22% in September 2024, and such results lead to an increase in the share of the private sector's output in Saudi GDP, which is expected to grow by 4.7%.

The rise in the Saudi economy's rating is attributed to a long-term economic plan for diversification, which is considered the pillar of long-term growth, in addition to the tangible approach to independence from oil crises. 

The advancement of economic interests towards higher prosperity is what drives the easing of political and ideological tension, despite its presence in our region that floats on oil and its associated problems.

Yes, improving economic performance is the rescue from the drowning of politics.