ABSTRACT
The oil and gas sector continues to dominate the Saudi economy. Saudi Arabia enjoys the largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The development of the agricultural sector is constrained by such considerations as extreme water scarcity, soil infertility, adverse climatic conditions, expensive labor, and marketing difficulties. Non-hydrocarbon manufacturing industries are of negligible importance in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has begun playing a more forceful role in controlling the Kingdom's money supply and financial sector. The First Saudi Development Plan was not a detailed economic plan that took all sectors of the economy into consideration. The Second Five-Year Development Plan was much more detailed and took all the sectors of the economy into consideration. Saudi Arabia's domestic consumption of energy has been growing rapidly. Over the period 1970 – 80, energy consumption is estimated to have grown at an average 30 percent annually, a higher rate than in nearly all other OPEC producers.
