What Are the Objectives of the Financial Sector Development Program?

The Financial Sector Development Program is one of the eleven executive programs launched by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The program aims to develop a diverse and effective financial sector to support the growth of the national economy, stimulate savings, financing, and investment, and increase the efficiency of the financial sector to address and manage challenges.

The Financial Sector Development Program has set six objectives: increasing the size of the financial sector to more than double the gross domestic product (GDP), equalizing the size of the financial market with that of the banking sector, developing an inclusive system that serves the majority of Saudi citizens, implementing digitization to enhance customer experience and efficiency, establishing a sector managed by professional national competencies, and making the Kingdom one of the top ten countries in the G20 in terms of financial stability.

The Financial Sector Development Program has set four strategic objectives to create a prosperous financial sector:

- Enabling financial institutions to support the growth of the private sector by enhancing the depth and diversity of financial services and products offered, building a sophisticated financial infrastructure, developing a thriving insurance sector to manage financial risks, and enhancing the capabilities of the workforce.

- Developing an advanced financial market by facilitating capital raising by the government and the private sector, providing an effective platform to encourage investment and diversify the investor base, ensuring a secure and transparent infrastructure (to maintain financial market stability), and enhancing the capabilities and development of market participants.

- Enhancing and enabling financial planning by stimulating and supporting sustainable demand for savings plans, promoting the expansion of available savings products and channels in the market, improving and strengthening the savings system, and enhancing financial literacy.

- Financial technology strategy, to establish the Kingdom's identity as a hub for financial technology, facilitate market access and financing, enable technical infrastructure, develop the regulatory framework, enhance competencies, and strengthen local and international partnerships.