The Saudi government unveiled its 2016 budget on 28 December, alongside a range of fuel price increases in a bid to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on expensive subsidies for fuel and electricity (MEES, 8 January 2016).
Saudi Arabia has been considering reducing the politically-sensitive subsidies for some months (MEES, 11 September 2015), and similar moves of late by Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Bahrain have now provided the political space in which to act. The decision comes as oil prices look set to remain stubbornly low, causing Saudi Arabia to project a budget deficit for the third year in succession. (CONTINUED - 1604 WORDS)
