The Saudi government on Sunday launched a novel economic analysis index, known as MEPX, to monitor the performance of the Kingdom’s private sector.
MEPX is a leading indicator that has been designed and developed by the economy ministry’s economic analysts to track 10 economic factors classified into four categories, consumers, firms, and the financial and trade sectors.
It provides regular, in-depth analysis of the Kingdom’s private sector business cycles through advanced econometrics techniques.
The insights and analysis gathered by MEPX will enable the ministry to further support the Kingdom’s economic policymaking and strategies based on emerging data, market trends and fluctuations.
“As the Kingdom records its fastest economic growth in a decade, increasing access to emerging data is crucial to informing pro-growth policy making as we look to enhance the private sector’s contribution to 65% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2030,” said Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim.
Not only will the new proactive indicator help economists, policymakers, and business leaders evaluate and forecast emerging trends and growth drivers in the private sector, but it will also allow them to pinpoint both short and medium-term growth opportunities.
“The first MEPX business cycle composite index marks an important milestone in our mission to provide accurate, trusted, and transparent economic data and statistics in the Kingdom,” the minister said.
With a projected growth rate of 7.6%, Saudi Arabia is estimated to become the fastest growing major economy worldwide in 2022, according to the latest World Economic Outlook Report released by the International Monetary Fund.
In other news, a recent report revealed that the total expenses of insurance benefits in Saudi Arabia during the third quarter of 2022 exceeded SAR30 billion ($8 billion).
The report, prepared by the Saudi General Organization for Social Insurance, reviewed the details of the benefits and other compensations disbursed during the third quarter of 2022.
