IMF opens office in Riyadh to bolster Middle East presence 

Reuters/Yuri Gripas

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will open a new regional office in Riyadh to bolster collaboration with nations in the Middle East and beyond. 

The new office will scale up capacity building, regional surveillance, and outreach to promote stability, growth, and regional integration, the Washington-headquartered fund said in a statement. 

The office will be pivotal in strengthening the IMF’s engagement with regional institutions, governments and other stakeholders. 

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In March, the Saudi cabinet approved an agreement to establish an IMF regional office in the country.

During her visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2022, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the regional office in Riyadh will strengthen relationships with country authorities and help expand the fund’s capacity development activities, which will make it one of the largest contributors globally

• Saudi Arabia’s inflation up to 1.8% and ‘likely’ to keep rising
• Saudi reforms needed to attract investment and lower deficit
• IMF chief says oil cuts weigh on Mena GDP growth

The IMF cut its estimate for Saudi economic growth to 2.6 percent in 2024, but raised its expectation for 2025, according to its World Economic Outlook released this month.

The Saudi GDP was raised to 6 percent from the 5.5 percent forecast earlier in January. 

The IMF praised the kingdom’s non-oil economy as “robust” in its January report but did not comment on the revised figures in its April paper.