Oil Cuts Add to Saudi Pain as GDP Contracts for Second Quarter
- Kingdom’s GDP falls 1.03% after shrinking 0.5% in 1st quarter
- Non-oil sector grows as government seeks to transform economy
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Photographer: Waseem Obaidi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Saudi Arabia’s economy contracted for two quarters in a row for the first time since the global financial crisis, as the kingdom grapples with low oil prices and its businesses struggle to cope with economic reforms.
The kingdom’s gross domestic product shrank 1 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, when it expanded 0.9 percent, according to official data released on Saturday. The economy had contracted 0.5 percent in the first three months of 2017.