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Saudi Arabia tightening their purse strings

The Saudi government has banned official purchases of cars and furniture and slashed travel budgets and infrastructure spending as it faces its gravest fiscal crisis for years because of low oil prices, according to leaked internal government documents.

Secret Saudi policy memos issued by King Salman to the finance minister detail the new economic austerity measures to be implemented across all government ministries. Saudi public finances have been depleted this year by tumbling oil prices to such an extent that the kingdom is expected to run a deficit of at least 20% of GDP in 2015.

One letter marked “Highly Confidential and Most Urgent” dated 14-12-1436 (28 September 2015 in the Islamic calendar) gives strict instructions to stop any new projects, end the purchases of any new vehicles, furniture or other equipment, freeze all appointments and promotions, stop compensation payments for property, and halt any new rental agreements.

more http://www.theguardi.....udi-arabia

well this should be interesting if true

Not even the mighty Middle East can survive cheap oil forever.

If oil stays around $50 a barrel, most countries in the region will run out of cash in five years or less, warned a dire report from the International Monetary Fund this week. That includes OPEC leader Saudi Arabia as well as Oman and Bahrain.

Low oil prices will wipe out an estimated $360 billion from the region this year alone, the IMF said.

Huge budget surpluses are quickly swinging to massive deficits as oil prices have crashed to around $45 currently from over $100 last year. Many of these countries are being forced to tap into rainy day funds to weather the storm.

"Oil exporters will need to adjust their spending and revenue policies to ensure fiscal sustainability," the IMF wrote.

The depressed oil prices have come at a time when spending has gone up as many of these countries are grappling with regional violence and turbulence in financial markets.

more http://money.cnn.com.....ddle-east/

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