The Impact of a Sustainable Economic Development Focus on the Real Exchange Rate in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has launched its vision for the next decade, which is branded Vision 2030. Sustainable economic development is the core of the Saudi Vision 2030, which has seventeen sustainability programs covering a wide range of Saudi economic sectors. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the sustainable economic development focus on the real exchange rate in Saudi Arabia. The ARDL cointegration method was used to assess the existence of the long-run relationships among the variables. The Sustainable Development Index (SDI) was used as a measure of sustainable economic development. Sustainable economic development was found to have a negative impact on the real exchange rate in terms of both the long- and short-run dynamics. Moreover, the GDP was found to have a positive impact on the real exchange rate in the long run and to have the highest coefficient of the model. However, the money supply was found to have no impact on the real exchange rate, while oil rent was found to have a negative impact on the real exchange rate in terms of both the long-run and the first-moment short-run dynamics. Government expenditure was found to be insignificant in the long run and to have a positive significant impact on the real exchange rate in the short-run dynamics. Furthermore, the sustainability impact on the real exchange rate in Saudi Arabia has not been discussed due to the economic structure that relies on oil and the change toward a sustainable economy that occurred in the recent decade. The results provide insight into the potential future challenges faced by the Saudi economy as sustainability programs progress in Saudi Arabia.

Assessing the Level of Urban Sustainability in the Capital of Pakistan: A Social Analysis Applied through Multiple Linear Regression

“…Previous studies on urban sustainability consider indicators from the physical environment, including land use land cover change, the variation in daily weather conditions, the air quality index, and the level of occurrence of natural disasters [5,6]. For economic sustainability measurements, researchers use land values in the area, employment opportunities, the sizes of houses, and house ownership data [7]. Similarly, to measure social sustainability, several studies have used the level of the sense of belonging, the level of maintenance of neighborhood facilities, provisions of neighborhood services, health care facilities, the presence of parks in a settlement, the availability of sports facilities, and solid waste management in the area [8,9].…”