Title: Investigating Saudi Arabia's current account deficit

Authors: Issam Tlemsani

Addresses: The Centre of International Business, Malden Road, London, KT3 6DR, UK

Abstract: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) recently introduced a sweeping new package of social and economic reforms, setting the kingdom firmly on the path toward a diversified economic system. The purpose of this research is to examine KSA's current account deficit (CAD) by addressing the major factors that affect KSA's CAD and emphasising the effect of consumer behaviour on KSA's account balance. Data were collected from 2000 to 2019, a survey was distributed among 730 Saudi's participants, to assess their awareness and construct a correlation matrix. The findings confirm the correlation between KSA's CAD and its exports, net national income, inflation rate, GDP growth rate, and oil prices. The research recommendations are to introduce more fiscal reforms, such as reducing the inflation rate, improved data quality and availability and reduced value-added tax. This research provides insights for governments, society, regulators and public policy regarding how to control the CAD.

Keywords: KAS; current account deficit; oil prices; consumer behavior; government policies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2021.117762

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2021 Vol.13 No.2, pp.95 - 109

Received: 04 Mar 2021
Accepted: 24 Apr 2021
Published online: 23 Sep 2021 *

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