Saudi export growth slows to ten percent

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} While the worldÔÇÖs major economies enter recession with forecasts of worse to come, the Saudi Arabian central bank has announced that its non-oil exports declined by half in 2008ÔÇöto just over ten percent.   Muhammad al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), said non-oil exports grew 10.2 percent to 115.1 billion riyals ($30.7 billion) in 2008 against a 22.5 percent growth in 2007.   The growth of non-oil exports is a key indicator of the kingdom's success in diversifying its oil-based economy to create enough jobs for a rapidly-growing native population, the largest population among oil-exporting Gulf countries.   According to official data, petrochemicals and plastics produced by companies such as state-controlled Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), make up about 54 percent of Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports,   SABIC's earnings fell by more than 95 percent in the fourth-quarter of last year due mainly to a drop in global demand.   *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *   (Reuters)