What oil slump? Saudis spend without feeling pinch
Riyadh
SPEND the afternoon strolling through Riyadh's shiny shopping malls, or an evening at one of its luxury restaurants, and you'd never guess there's an oil slump.
That's not an accident, it's Saudi policy in action. Sharing oil wealth with the public has helped keep the Al Saud family securely in power as turmoil sweeps the region. When the revenue slows down, as it's doing now, the kingdom's rulers would rather run huge budget deficits than risk tampering with that bedrock social contract.
Eventually, economists say, something may have to give. The International Monetary Fund predicts a fiscal gap exceeding 20 per cent of economic output this year, and says that at that rate Saudi savings would run out after five years. Standard & Poor's cut th…
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
Gazelle Ventures makes cash offer for No Signboard shares at S$0.0021 apiece
P&G raises annual core profit forecast on resilient demand, price hikes
Cordlife calls for trading halt after shares sink to all-time low, pending announcement
Marina Bay Sands Q1 profit surges 51.5% to US$597 million on tourism boom
Swiss watch exports plunge as China and Hong Kong demand dries up
Cutting the cord?: Events leading up to Cordlife’s MOH suspension and arrests of its directors, ex-group CEO