ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the SR1 trillion ($273 billion) mark in the first half of this year compared to SR811 billion in the same period last year on the back of higher oil output and energy prices, the Central Department of Statistics and Information said in its report.
The GDP, unadjusted for inflation, jumped 26.1 percent from a year earlier. The statistics department said GDP of the oil sector alone soared 38.9 percent to SR573.4 billion.
The Kingdom received another boost with the annual report of the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation for 2012 acknowledging its regional top rank in the Middle East and North Africa region with regard to facilitating business. The report “Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World,” which has been released in Washington, has ranked the Kingdom 12th in the domain of ease of doing business and other commercial transactions among 183 nations worldwide due to improvements introduced by the Kingdom concerning government procedures for corporate activities and making business easier for entrepreneurs. » | KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS | Friday, October 21, 2011
