Saudi non-oil exports growth down 50pc in 2008

Saudi Arabia's central bank head says the rate of growth in the country's non-oil exports plunged by 50 percent in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis.

The drop undercuts efforts by the Arab world's largest economy to diversify its revenue base away from petroleum.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency governor Mohammed Al-Jasser was quoted Thursday by Al-Ektisadiya newspaper as saying non-oil exports totaled 115.1 billion riyals _ $30.7 billion _ in 2008, reflecting a growth rate of 10.2 percent compared to 21.8 percent in 2007.

The comments underscore the challenges confronting a nation home to the world's largest proven oil reserves, but that has seen foreign revenues plummet as crude oil has fallen to about a third of its mid-July high of $147 per barrel.