Saudi Arabia to create world's largest wealth fund

Riyadh

SAUDI Arabia said on Monday that it would create the world's largest wealth fund and sell shares in state energy giant Aramco as it unveiled a vast plan to transform its oil-dependent economy.

The announcement of the long-term reform programme, dubbed "Saudi Vision 2030", marks the beginning of a hugely ambitious attempt to move Saudi Arabia beyond oil, the backbone of its economy for decades, amid a steep fall in prices.

The key architect of the diversification plan, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, said that if it works Saudi Arabia "can live without oil by 2020".

In an interview with the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel after the government approved …