To summarize, our analysis provides evidence that increases in government spending significantly increase non-oil GDP in Saudi Arabia, whether spending is measured in the aggregate or in terms of capital and current expenditure. These results are consistent with studies by Al-Yousif (2000) and Kireyev (1998), who also find positive effects of government spending on non-oil GDP in Saudi Arabia. They contrast with those of Al-Jarrah (2005), who finds a negative effect of military spending, and those of Ghali (1997), whose results are inconclusive. Interestingly, the findings show effects of current expenditure on growth to exceed those of capital expenditure, contrary to commonly held views. Conceivably, this may reflect public investment patterns that are not optimally growth-promoting -- for example, due to non-economic criteria used in the selection of investment projects and/or problems with managerial incentives that undermine returns to public investment.13 This suggests that, from a growth perspective, it may be preferable to allocate public spending to maintaining and improving existing infrastructure, rather than starting new projects with uncertain returns. Unfortunately, because procedures for classifying capital expenditures do not differentiate between types of spending (but rather are just broken out by project and government agency), it is not possible to identify components of public investment that drag down its contribution to growth. This suggests that reforming the budget classification system could be valuable for ensuring that public investment enhances the country’s non-oil productive capacity.