Decline in the Value of Currency and Trade Balance - Case Study Example

Decline in the Value of Currency and Trade Balance Introduction The key objective of microeconomics is economy and price stability. The world price in this case is used inclusively in reference to all prices including prices of finished products, the price of production factors, capital market share prices, and the price for a country’s currency. The phrase “exchange rate” has been used in this case in reference to the value of national currency when it is compared to foreign currency. Therefore the exchange rate is the value of a country’s currency when compared with another. For example, someone will need about 86.34 Kenyan Shillings in order to buy a single US Dollar. However, it should be noted that exchange rates cannot be used to show that one currency is stronger or weaker than the other. For instance, in the year 2011 one Chinese Yuan had more value than a Japanese Yen. This does not necessarily mean that the Chinese currency was at that moment stronger than the Japanese currency. Appreciation and depreciation of national currencies is something that takes place frequently and thus cannot be used to determine the strength or weakness of a national currency. Facts of the Case Study There are some changes that took place in the United States of America in between the year 1980 and 1987. There was a widening of the United Sates deficit 0.48% of GDP to 3.5% in the year 1985. At this time in history the G5 planned on reducing the value of the Dollar. This began taking place in the year 1985 when the Treasury department was taken over by a new team. In between the year 1985 and 1987 the Dollar experienced a decrease in value that was estimated to be about 34% (Feldstein 201). At the time when the Dollar was experiencing a fall, there was a continuous widening of the trade deficit. This was unsettling to a number of influential people of that time. This is specifically true to those who had predicted the decline of the trade deficit of the United States of America that evidently led to depreciation (Houben 176). Some people even began arguing that the trade deficit will never have a positive response to the change in the value of the US Dollar and that foreign trade barriers will make it hard for the United States of America to expand its exports sustainably (Qiao 752). The other argument was that an open market in the United States of America will lead to a growth in the volume of imports regardless of the value of the US Dollar. After a couple of years the trade balance in the United States of America began responding to the fall in the US Dollar. The question that has been a topic of debate by economists since this time is why it took such a long period for the trade balance to respond to the decline in the value of the US Dollar. There are a number of things that can be used to explain why this took place. One of the explanations was that the existence of a prior increase in the value of the US Dollar filled the profit margins of the foreign producers (World Economic Outlook 102). From the year 1980 to 1985 other exports destined for the United States of America rose with reference to domestic prices (Cheung and Chinn 456). Therefore, it is assumed that when the fall of the US Dollar began foreign producers were able to keep the price of the US Dollar stable by absorbing the decline in the value of the Dollar by settling for less profit in terms of their domestic currency (Horcher 77). Another thing that can possibly explain this occurrence is the there is a possibility there were still being covered by impact of previous appreciation of the value of the US Dollar that was still in the system. The other reason would be that exports began to increase from a much lower base as compared to imports, and needed to increase much faster in percentage in order for there to be a closing in the trade deficit (Iley and Lewis 132). Effect of Trade Deficit: Trade deficit in USA is a major point of concern for the economist and economy of the USA. The most common effect of the trade deficit in the USA economy is development of inequality in the society, most importantly the income inequality.A massive trade deficit causes an increase in income inequality for several reasons. First of all, unemployment is a symptom of the trade deficit. Secondly, when manufacturing plants are closed in the United States and moved to China or Mexico or Vietnam, profits for the owners increase, while the workers suffer an income loss. The workers either go on unemployment rolls or take a low-wage job with McDonalds or Wal Mart or doing other unskilled work. (Joseph, 2013) Implementation of the case facts and theory to Saudi Arabia: The theory as seen in this particular case study can be applied in a number of other cases. In this paper the theory as per the case in the United States of America will be applied in a related case in Saudi Arabia. There are a number of factors about the economy of Saudi Arabia that should be considered when attempting to apply the above case and theory in Saudi Arabia. One of such factors is the current accounts and balance of payment in Saudi Arabia (Kettell 75). Before discussing this it is important to understand the present economic condition of the country. A detail Study of Economy of Saudi Arabia: At present the economy of Saudi Arabia is in a stable condition. The balance of payment, current account balance, trade deficit, growth in the GDP, export & import all these factor are showing positive signs. Economics experts believe that the availability of oil and export of the same is the key behind the economic stability. Following is the status of the economy of Saudi Arabia in last 5 years. The total export volume of the country is increased significantly in last 5 years and most importantly the % contribution of exports to the total GDP of the country is much higher compare to contribution of imports to the country’s GDP. The GDP of the country is also moving upwards in a steady pace so as the total reserves. The total reserves of the country are far more than that of the current account balance of the nation. In a nutshell we can easily say that the country’s economy is going on a right direction and the nation is able to utilize its main strength that is export of oil to the maximum extent to tackle critical issues like balance of Payment and trade deficit. The above graph is a clear indication that import of goods and services is continuously decreasing over the course of time. It is a clear indication that the country is looking to develop its economy on the basis of export of non-oil products. That is why the imports of various goods and services is started to go down steadily year after year. (Data Source: World Bank) In the world economy, the volume of the merchandise trade as a ratio to the GDP is considered as the measures of the openness of the countrys economy or of its extent of the integration with the rest of the world. There are cases where the said ratio exceeds 100%. But, central tendency for the emerging economies was found to be around 60%; priority is no longer critical level of openness in the country (Kenen 89). In Saudi Arabia the economy is classified as open with its ratio of about 67%. However, it is not something that was achieved by the government recently in Saudi Arabia. Some years back the openness had been large in this country, for example, in 1994 the trade percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia was 74%, in 1980 it increased to 80% and later in 1998 the percentage was 45%. Here is some more detail analysis of the economy of Saudi Arabia with special focus on foreign trade of the country from 2004-2013, sectorial break up of both import and export n last two years(2012 & 2013); Another table is displaying the contribution made by various sectors in GDP of the nations. From the below graph it is very clear that volume of export is increasing steadily in last ten Years. The majority proportion of that export volume is mainly from oil export, crude oil and refines products. But one thing has to note that in the 2013, the proportion of oil exports, crude oil and refined products in total exports have reduced and export of non-oil products and agro products increased. It is a clear indication that Saudi Arabia as a nation is started to look for alternate of oil based economy to make their economy more stable. ((Data Source: Saudi Arabian monetary society; 2014; UNCTADSTAT)   Foreign Trade Statistics Export                 Oil Exports Crude Oil Refined Non-Oil Petrochemicals Construction Agri Other       Products Exports   Materials Products goods 2013 1102478 104602 1207080 131545 11755 12628 46739 202667 2012 1144638 120912 1265550 124184 10536 12852 43380 190952 (Data Source: Saudi Arabian monetary society; 2014; UNCTADSTAT)   Composition of Imports               Year Animal Vegetable Ready foods Chemical Textile Machinery& Transport Misc.   Products Products & Beverages Product   Other Products Equipment Product 2013 22967 35676 28106 50554 18880 165230 107552 12716 2012 21232 31324 24609 48208 18065 154062 103544 10951 (Data Source: Saudi Arabian monetary society; 2014; UNCTADSTAT) Country wise Export Import Figures from 2005-2012(Non GCC countries) In order to stabilize the economy Saudi Arabia started to focus more on various non GCC countries to strengthen their export. In the earlier phase the country was more focused on exporting oil, petroleum products but as the time moves on in recent years they are more focusing on the non-oil products. In recent years this is the main reason that various non-oil products export increased. This shift in the component of export making their balance of payment more stable so as reduce their trade deficit and also help their GDP to grow in a steady pace. If one analyze their export-import figure country wise then it is very clear that apart from Egypt, for all other countries the volume of export is higher than the volume of import. Country wise Import and Export figure from 2005-2013 If one considers the balance of payment option the following are the factors that one needs to consider. These are balance associated with current account, primary and secondary income of the country, and financial account balance and reserve asset of the nation. For Saudi Arabia, there is a steady growth in all this factors which making the balance of payment equation more and more stable as the years gone by. Likewise at present the economy of the country is not solely dependent on the oil or oil related industry in Saudi Arabia. Now almost all different sectors be it agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, finance, insurance etc. (UNCADSTAT; Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency) Balance of Payment and the components of Economy in Saudi Arabia (2012 & 2013) GDP and contribution of various sectors in GDP of Saudi Arabia (2013) (Data Source: Saudi Arabian monetary society; 2014; UNCTADSTAT) In Saudi Arabia the most common use of BOP (Balance of Payment)statistics which relates to merchandised exports as it was a composition and exchange of patterns over time reveals production mix and changing comparative advantage of the economy (Hutchison and Noy 33). It is very clear that the economy of Saudi Arabia is based on primarily on the export of oil. This is through the production of crude oil that they produce per day; the country stands close to the USSR and the USA in terms of its largest exporters of the crude oil that is being produced per day (Ho and Yuen 201). Saudi Arabia government had a plan that they started in developing physical infrastructure with the oil exports boon of the year 1974. Due to its small population country, the expatriates were invited at an attractive remuneration to up the task, this included semi-skilled and manual workers as well as the engineers were needed largely for construction work in the country (Goldberg and Hellerstein 167). Due to increase of population in Saudi Arabia the rise in demand for service, that other jumped into labor inflow was witnessed. During this time expatriates were in different categories and this included the taxi drivers, office workers, doctors and housemaids in other departments. There was upset effect on payment and this was due to the heavy inflow of labor from outside the country (Fisher and Hoffmans 128). There were private transfers which were almost half a billion dollars in the year 1975, which rose to $4 billion by the year 1980 and later an increase to $12 billion by the year 1990. In recent years to make the economy more stable the government of Saudi Arabia is started to focusing on other industries as well to ensure that there is an alternate source of income for the nation as well along with alternate option for the people of the country to get associated with. Balance of Payment: The term balance of payment is always used in reference to the method applied by nations all over the world in monitoring all international monetary transactions within a given period of time. It is always used in determining how much money gets out of a country at a particular time. The term current account is always used in reference to the difference between the investments of a country and the expenditures of the country. In the fourth quarter of the year 2013, Saudi Arabia recorded a current account surplus of USD 37.822 Million (Ramady 187). The current account of the country is estimated to be averagely USD 15.8331 Million from 1971 to 2013, reaching its highest point of UDS 90.06070 Million during the final quarter of the year 2005. In the year 2012 the balance of payment of Saudi Arabia was estimated to be 122,157,000,000 US Dollars (DSouza 104).When there is depreciation in the value of the currency of a country, there is always an increase in the prices of the locally manufactured goods while that of imported products simultaneously becomes low. This leads to a change in the trade balance. When talking about a county’s exchange rate one thing that should never go unmentioned is the country’s exchange rate regimes (Devereux and Engel 774). There are a number of factors that are believed to be the determining factors in a country’s choice of exchange rate regimes. These factors include the social and economic conditions of a specific country (Madura 112). There are two types of exchange rate regimes. The two types are fixed exchange rate and a floating exchange rate. Of the two types of exchange rate regimes Saudi Arabia uses fixed exchange rate. Fixed exchange rate refers to an exchange regime whereby the value of a country’s currency is determined by a fixed amount of a commodity. Under this type of exchange rate regime the value of a country’s currency can also be determined by a fixed amount of another country’s currency. In the case of Saudi Arabia they always use the US Dollar to value their currency (Crowley 212). This can be dangerous, especially in a case where the value of the US Dollar constantly declines. It would mean that at that particular moment Saudi Arabia would be facing the risk of having an increase in inflation in the country. A Detail Study on Current Account of Saudi Arabia: The current account in Saudi Arabia of the BOP comprises the two sub accounts, one account pertaining to the merchandise imports and exports of trade account, the second one is the covering the imports and exports of services for both non-factor and factor service accounts (Gupta 102). In these every item in both accounts, it reflects real sector activity in the economy, for example the production of goods and services, the labor market trends and the cost competitiveness (Nafziger and Nafziger 210). However, every schedule of foreign exchange demand and supply which is a mirror image of the demand and supplies that is scheduled of the real activity in the economy. Current Status of Saudi Arabia’s Economy and Currency: At the moment the Saudi riyal is pegged to the US Dollar at the rate of 3.75 Saudi riyals per US Dollar (Davidson 207). The problem with this kind of pegging that is commonly referred to as a pegged-to-one currency exchange is that the appreciation and depreciation of the value of a country’s currency will highly depend on the appreciation and depreciation of the currency to which it is pegged (Miles and Scott 99). This has particularly been a big problem in Saudi Arabia especially during the times when the US Dollar experienced constant depreciation. Exchange Rates: How Saudi Arabia Able to Handle the Issue: Exchange rates are very important for business organizations that are involved in international trade. A good example would be a business deal in the month of January between a business in Saudi Arabia and a firm in England whose payment is supposed to be made in the month of July (Alogeel and Hasan 123). If the business deal was signed to be paid by Saudi riyals, and the value of the Saudi riyals depreciates during the period the value paid for the contract will be lower than the initially estimated value. This will affect the firm in England and not the one in Saudi Arabia because of the way the Saudi riyals is pegged to the US Dollar at a fixed value (Stephens 134). Why the Economy of Saudi Arabia is More Stable? One of the factors that are most attributed to the economic stability that is currently experienced in Saudi Arabia is the discovery of oil. Prior to the discovery of oil the people in Saudi Arabia involved themselves in diverse economic activities. A majority of them involved themselves in agriculture while some majored in long distance trade (Cottarelli 187). There was the group of people in Saudi Arabia who solely depended on nomadic pastoralism while others involved themselves in growing of crops such as dates. At this time in history the people who controlled the oasis and the well had greater say in the economy of Saudi Arabia (Gust, Leduc and Vigfusson 191). However, after the discovery of oil things have been different. The economy of the country seems to be unified with oil being its major export. This is a factor that plays a very important role in the manner that the trade balance of Saudi Arabia responds to a decline in the currency of Saudi Arabia. Oil dealers are unlikely to feel the effect of the decrease in the value of the Saudi Arabian currency as soon as it takes place because of the nature of the global demand for oil (Rosenberg and Traub 111). This can imply that at the time when there is a decline in the value of the Saudi Arabian currency the foreign producer might decide to operate at a loss at the particular time hoping that the value of the Saudi riyal will soon regain its higher prices. Under such circumstance the Saudi Arabian trade balance is likely to remain unstable and not affected by the decline in the value of the Saudi riyal. Just like the case of the United States of America, this might cause a delay in the response of the Saudi Arabian trade balance to the decline in the price of the Saudi riyal. However, given the country’s high balance of payment the period is likely to be shorter than the period that was experienced in the United States of America (Kollmann 25). Another possible cause of the delay in a country’s trade balance, delaying in responding to the decline in the value of the national currency is a previous appreciation of the currency. This was suspected to have been one of the causes of the delay in the response. This might just be the case of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi riyal is always pegged to the US dollar (Betts and Devereux 232). At some point there was a debate on whether the fact that the value of the US Dollar was increasing at a very high rate would lead to inflation in the country. At a time like this a country might find itself having the value of their currency decline because of the decline in the value of the currency to which they pegged (Melvin and Norrbin 172). It has to be noted that despite the currency of Saudi Arabia remaining pegged to the US Dollar, they were still fighting inflation at the same rate with countries that had opted for alternative reference currencies. Conclusion and Recommendation: The occurrence of cases like the one that has been discussed in this paper can be of benefit to a country in many ways. If the trade balance takes long to respond to the decline in the value of a country’s currency, then the eventual negative impact of the decline of the value of currency will be minimized. Looking at the case of the United States of America one can simply note that a good number of the factors that led to the delay in the response of the trade balance to the decline in the value of the United States of America were way beyond the control of the government of the United states of America. The same would apply to the case in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it will be impossible to say that there is much that the government can do in order to induce the delay. It is clearly evident that there is a relation between the value of a country’s currency and the trade balance of the same country. When the trade balance worsens, then it would imply that at that particular time there is more imports coming into the country than the exports that are flowing out. Such occurrences are likely to affect the economy of a country negatively (Aghion, Bacchetta and Banerjee 18). This is because when the value of the currency fall, imports always seems less expensive, thus causing an increase in demand for imported products. People who do importation will prefer the strong value of the national currency while those who do exportation will prefer to do business when the currency is weak. Under normal circumstances the trade balance is always expected to change whenever there is a change in the value of the national currency. However, this is not always the case (Baker and Riddick 134). These can be attributed to by a number of factors that can lead to a delay in the response of the trade balance to a decline in the value of a national currency. As seen in the case of US, there was a delay in the response of the market balance to the decline in the price of the US Dollar. There are a number of things that were thought to lead to this occurrence in the US as shown in this paper. Applying the same theory in Saudi Arabia, it has been shown just how the same can happen to the Saudi Arabian currency (Lien and Lien 144). The same factors can apply in the scenario of Saudi Arabia in delaying the response of the trade balance to the decline in the value of the Saudi Arabian currency (Lane 244). The understanding of how the exchange rates and exchange rate system works has proved to be very important in microeconomics for the sake of countries and business organizations. Reference: 1. Aghion, Philippe, Philippe Bacchetta, and Abhijit Banerjee. "A corporate balance-sheet approach to currency crises." Journal of Economic theory 119.1 (2004): 6-30. 2. Alogeel, Hesham, and Maher Hasan. Understanding the Inflationary Process in the GCC Region. Washington: International Monetary Fund, 2008. Internet resource. 3. Baker, H K, and Leigh A. Riddick. International Finance: a Survey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. 4. Betts, Caroline, and Michael B. Devereux. 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Nafziger, E W, and E W. Nafziger. Economic Development. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print. 31. Qiao, Hong. "Exchange rates and trade balances under the dollar standard." Journal of Policy Modeling 29.5 (2007): 765-782. 32. Ramady, M A. The Saudi Arabian Economy. New York: Springer, 2010. 33. Rosenberg, Joshua V., and Leah G. Traub. Price discovery in the foreign currency futures and spot market. No. 262. Staff Report, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2006. 34. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency; 2014; Web; Available at http://www.sama.gov.sa/sites/samaen/ReportsStatistics/statistics/Pages/YearlyStatistics.aspx accessed on 28.5.2014 35. Stephens, John J. Managing Currency Risk: Using Financial Derivatives. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. 36. UNCTADSTAT: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; Web; Available at http://unctadstat.unctad.org/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx accessed on 28.5.2014 37. 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The World Bank Data: Available at http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS/countries Accessed on 27.5.2014 Data Table: Year Inflation Consumer Year Export of Goods/ Year GDP Growth (%)   Prices (Annual %)   Services (% of GDP) 1980 6.5 1980 4.2 1980 64 1981 4.7 1981 2.8 1981 63 1982 -11.1 1982 1 1982 51 1983 -8.2 1983 0.2 1983 39 1984 -3.1 1984 -1.6 1984 35 1985 -4.3 1985 -3.1 1985 30 1986 5.1 1986 -3.2 1986 27 1987 -4 1987 -1.5 1987 31 1988 8.2 1988 0.9 1988 31 1989 0.1 1989 1.1 1989 34 1990 8.3 1990 2.1 1990 41 1991 9.1 1991 4.9 1991 39 1992 4.6 1992 -0.1 1992 39 1993 0 1993 1.1 1993 35 1994 0.7 1994 0.6 1994 34 1995 0.2 1995 4.9 1995 38 1996 3.4 1996 1.2 1996 40 1997 2.6 1997 0.1 1997 39 1998 2.8 1998 -0.4 1998 30 1999 -0.7 1999 -1.3 1999 35 2000 4.9 2000 -1.1 2000 44 2001 0.5 2001 -1.1 2001 40 2002 0.1 2002 0.2 2002 41 2003 8.3 2003 0.6 2003 46 2004 8.6 2004 0.3 2004 51 2005 7.3 2005 0.7 2005 57 2006 5.6 2006 2.2 2006 60 2007 6 2007 4.2 2007 60 2008 8.4 2008 9.9 2008 62 2009 1.8 2009 5.1 2009 47 2010 7.4 2010 5.3 2010 50 2011 8.6 2011 5.8 2011 56 2012 5.1 2012 2.9 2012 56 Data Table: Year Import of Goods / Year Current Account   Services(% of GDP)   Balance of Payment 1980 27 2005 90,060,286,890 1981 30 2006 99,066,128,134 1982 39 2007 93,379,486,657 1983 38 2008 132,322,000,000 1984 45 2009 164,764,000,000 1985 37 2010 158,545,000,000 1986 36 2011 66,750,991,975 1987 37 2012 20,954,610,933 1988 35 1989 38 1990 32 1991 37 1992 36 1993 34 1994 26 1995 28 1996 27 1997 26 1998 27 1999 23 2000 25 2001 24 2002 24 2003 24 2004 24 2005 25 2006 30 2007 35 2008 34 2009 38 2010 33 2011 30 2012 30 Data Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS/countries Accessed on 27.5.2014 Foreign Trade Figures of Saudi Arabia (Value in Million Riyals) Year Foreign Trade of Saudi Arabia (mil. US $) Export Import 2004 472,491 177,659 2005 677,144 222,985 2006 791,339 261,402 2007 874,403 338,088 2008 1,175,482 431,753 2009 721,109 358,290 2010 941,785 400,736 2011 1,367,620 493,449 2012 1,456,503 583,473 2013 1,409,747 630,677 Detail of Export and Import (Sector wise): value in Million Riyals Year Composition of Exports                 Oil Exports Crude Oil Refined Non-Oil Petrochemicals Construction Agri Other       Products Exports   Materials Products goods 2013 1102478 104602 1207080 131545 11755 12628 46739 202667 2012 1144638 120912 1265550 124184 10536 12852 43380 190952   Composition of Imports               Year Animal Products Vegetable Ready foods Product of Textile Machinery Transport Misc.     Products & Beverages Chemical indus.   and other pdts. Equipment Product 2013 22967 35676 28106 50554 18880 165230 107552 12716 2012 21232 31324 24609 48208 18065 154062 103544 10951 Foreign Trade of Saudi Arabia (Country wise-non GCC countries)     Export in million Riyals         Year Name of the Country         Rest of   Egypt Jordon Syria Yemen Morocco Arab Nation 2005 1952 2278 1588 1287 861 1130 2006 2686 2521 1661 1687 752 1783 2007 4308 3261 2208 1997 1019 2359 2008 5554 4937 2244 2268 1194 3238 2009 4689 4624 2355 2349 1178 3122 2010 6149 5265 3038 2600 1494 4122 2011 5920 6451 3389 2297 1963 2956 2012 6527 6574 1964 3133 2073 3545 2013 6679 7034 499 3750 186 4775     Import in Million Riyals         Year Name of the Country         Rest of   Egypt Jordon Syria Yemen Morocco Arab Nation 2005 2989 1009 1945 604 397 325 2006 2814 1365 1724 536 280 264 2007 4163 1463 1866 513 357 1552 2008 5612 1895 1963 681 815 1911 2009 5365 2004 1651 738 174 1738 2010 6074 2342 2152 788 253 1862 2011 7021 2466 1956 969 297 1031 2012 7520 2697 1527 1008 538 1162 2013 7909 3188 75 912 314 2042 Balance of Payment and Factors of Economy (comparison between 2012 & 2013)   Balance of Payment (Absolute Value) Factors 2012 2011 Current Acc. 164764 158545 Primary Income 10989 9684 Sec. Income -30438 -29386 Financial Accnt. 122157 110368 Reserve Asset 115788 95955 Sector wise contribution in GDP of Saudi Arabia 2000 to 2013     Contribution of various sectors in GDP of the country (Value in Million Riyals)                       Sectors           Year Agri. Mining Manufacturing Electricity Construction Retail Transport Financial Social &         /Gas     & communication Service personal 2000 34973 262399 68290 8515 41724 47832 29103 76204 22176 2001 35708 230250 69206 8928 43185 49793 30559 78873 23064 2002 36101 236926 72975 9303 44739 51735 31934 82072 24124 2003 36454 294111 86267 9870 47137 53856 33224 85843 25114 2004 37852 384921 100254 16055 53529 66652 38977 97132 26666 2005 39641 571892 117466 16753 58380 77122 43576 108339 27877 2006 41619 669827 135471 17571 64636 91203 49813 122233 29284 2007 43182 734756 154959 18562 74325 110366 61041 136812 30996 2008 45161 1028053 175100 18412 79681 133338 77774 153304 33021 2009 45926 608783 174600 21575 80379 147836 88870 171300 35207 2010 47063 821228 218171 26281 90780 174506 101205 182604 37768 2011 48163 1215518 252003 28285 107021 197926 115272 195054 41892 2012 49816 1311448 270180 30076 118513 219144 124279 232438 45969 2013 51636 1256481 283261 30623 134445 241586 135357 262656 49699 Data Source: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx http://www.sama.gov.sa/sites/samaen/ReportsStatistics/statistics/Pages/YearlyStatistics.aspx Read More