Saudi Arabia seeks to speed privatizations to help ease deficit
Photo via Bloomberg
Published 21 Apr,2021 via Bloomberg Markets - Saudi Arabia is hoping to speed up privatizations to narrow a budget deficit that ballooned last year due to the pandemic and a slump in oil revenue.
The kingdom aims to strike around 15 billion riyals ($4 billion) worth of infrastructure deals with private investors this year, the head of the National Center for Privatization, Rayyan Nagadi, said in an interview. That would be the most since the body was established to accelerate privatizations in 2017. It also aims to complete several asset sales this year, he said, declining to give a value for how much could be raised.
Free, in under 30 seconds
Join thousands of professionals reading Salaam Gateway — the Global Islamic Economy Gateway.
Already a member? Sign in
- 5 free articles every month
- Weekly Islamic-economy newsletter
- Save articles to read later
Matthew Martin