RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is preparing 160 privatization deals and intends to announce more of these operations next year, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan revealed on Thursday, 

Speaking at the Financial Stability Conference, Al-Jadaan said while the health sector will not be fully privatized as a service provider, parts of it, such as radiology, could be.

He highlighted the high cost of equipment being behind this decision.

Privatisation will also continue in the education and logistics sectors and will intensify further in the next phase, he said.

The executive plan for the privatization program has recently been published and speaks of a wide range of sectors, Al-Jadaan said.

“We have over 160 diverse projects in a range of sectors,” Al-Jadaan added.

Al-Jadaan also said the Saudi government continues to adopt policies to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with realistic, transparent and responsible procedures, he added.

These measures put the Kingdom on the path of recovery and stability, he said.

The minister indicated that the government launched a set of financial reforms aimed at a comprehensive and total change of the economy to bring about a major developmental shift.

The minister also said  that preliminary estimates for the third quarter of this year indicated a growth of 6.2 percent of the non-oil gross domestic product, stressing that this was reflected in promising results for the performance of the public finances.

He revealed that the government is working on a financial sustainability program to reduce the impact of external factors, including fluctuations in oil markets, by adopting new financial rules.