Saudi growth outlook lowered
National Bank of Kuwait lowered its forecast for Saudi Arabia's economic growth this year to 3.8 per cent from 5 per cent
Kuwait City: National Bank of Kuwait lowered its forecast for Saudi Arabia's economic growth this year to 3.8 per cent from 5 per cent, citing "revised assumptions" for the kingdom's oil production.
"As Libyan output recovers through 2012, some of these increases may be reversed, not least to rebuild Saudi's cushion of spare production capacity to enable it to respond to future shocks," Kuwait's largest lender said. Saudi Arabia raised production last year by more than 1 million barrels a day to offset a drop in Libyan supplies, the bank said.
Saudi inflation this year is expected to average 5 per cent to 6 per cent, the bank said in an emailed statement.
