No plans to impose income tax, says Saudi Crown Prince

Riyadh - He also said that the Kingdom's Vision 2030 would achieve many of its goals before the year 2030.

In a state television interview, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied any intentions to impose income taxes in the Kingdom.

According to Ittihad, he stated there would be no income taxes at all in Saudi Arabia and that the imposition of 15% VAT for a period of five years is a temporary decision.

The comments came as the Crown Prince discussed the most prominent achievements of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programmes and projects over the past five years.

He said that oil served Saudi Arabia very well, but the Kingdom was an existing country before oil.

He also said that the Kingdom's Vision 2030 would achieve many of its goals before the year 2030 and revealed intentions to prepare for Vision 2040.

Mohammed bin Salman said that the year 2019 witnessed the achievement of most of the goals. "We will see a strong rebound in the economic performance in the current year," he said.

"We want to achieve opportunities as soon as possible, and we are close to achieving a number of vision goals before 2030. Vital steps have been taken in the Kingdom since 2015 through restructuring ministries and establishing new councils, and we are now on the verge of completing the establishment of the Policy Office."

The Crown Prince also revealed that shares of Aramco would be sold to foreign investors during the next year or two. He explained that Aramco has an opportunity to be one of the largest industrial companies in the world, and there are currently discussions to sell 1% of the company to a foreign investor. He added that it is looking to convert three million barrels of oil to downstream industries in 2030.

• Saudi Arabia