Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia topped Arab countries, and came fourth globally, in terms of lowest debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, the World Economic Forum’s data showed.
The kingdom's debt-to-GDP amounted to 12.4%, while Egypt ranked 121 globally.
During the first nine months of 2017, the Saudi government paid SAR 11.55 billion debts, according to the Saudi finance ministry's data.
The kingdom’s domestic debt reached SAR 238.9 billion, making up 63.6% of total public debt which amounted to SAR 375.78 billion in the third quarter of 2017, the ministry added.
Saudi external debt stood at SAR 136.88 billion by the end of Q3-17.
Hong Kong ranked first in the list of states with lowest debt-to-GDP ratio, scoring 0.1%, followed by Brunei with 3.1%, and Estonia with 9.5%.
At the level of Arab countries, Kuwait ranked second among Arab countries and seventh globally with 18.6%.
The UAE ranked third among Arab nations and ninth internationally with 19.3%, followed by Algeria that ranked fourth regionally and tenth internationally with 20.4%.
Oman ranked the 34th globally with 34.3%, Qatar came as 66th with 47.6% and Tunisia scored 87th with 60.6%. While Morocco, Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan ranked 96th, 116th, 113th and 119th globally with 64.7%, 85.4%, 82.1%, and 95%,respectively.
Egypt ranked 121th globally in the countries with debt-to-GDP ratio of 97.1%, whereas Lebanon came 135th with 143.4%.
