Saudi king names Faisal Alibrahim as economy minister

The position of economy minister had been held on an acting basis by the kingdom’s finance minister since last year. Alibrahim takes over after coronavirus lockdowns and oil market turmoil shook the world’s largest crude exporter, causing gross domestic product to contract 4.1 per cent in 2020. The economy is showing signs of recovery now and is expected to expand 2.9 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Also in Monday’s royal orders, King Salman bin Abdulaziz promoted a woman, Eiman Al Mutairi, to become vice minister of commerce. He removed his son Prince Sultan bin Salman as the head of the space agency, and replaced him with Abdullah Al Swaha, the current communications and information technology minister.

Prince Sultan, the elder half-brother to Prince Mohammed, was appointed as an adviser to the king instead.