Biggest Saudi overhaul targets US$100b of revenue

Riyadh

THE biggest economic shake-up since the founding of Saudi Arabia would accelerate subsidy cuts and impose more levies, a plan to spread the burden of lower crude prices among a population more accustomed to government largess.

Outlining his vision in a five-hour interview with Bloomberg News last week, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the measures would raise at least an extra US$100 billion a year by 2020, more than tripling non-oil income and balancing the budget.