Saudi Arabia unveils $385 bln spending plan
Whilst other economies falter... Saudi Arabia seems to be booming ....
JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia plans to build schools, hospitals, housing and other infrastructure projects as part of a five-year plan budgeted at $385 billion, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Ageing King Abdullah is under pressure to create jobs and build housing as the population grows and unemployment rises, hitting 10.5 percent last year.
Two-thirds of Saudi nationals are under 30 years old and the kingdom has struggled to create jobs for them, partly because of a state education system focused more on religion than job skills and partly due to local firms often deciding to hire non-Saudis at lower wages.
The country's foreign population, many of them workers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines, jumped by 37 percent in census data released last week.
The biggest Arab economy and world's top oil exporter, the kingdom's 1.44-trillion Saudi riyal ($385-billion) plan exceeds its previous five-year development plan by 67 percent, SPA said.
It was announced by Economy and Planning Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed al-Qusaibi after being approved by Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers on Monday, it said.
"This ... basically solidifies the government's commitment on all the important sectors," said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh.
"When you have a knowledge-based economy then you have a far better chance to achieve sustainable development," he said. "This is part of the strategic effort to diversify its economy."
"The investment programme is adding to inflationary pressure," said Malik at EFG Hermes, noting any suppression of domestic demand from inflation would be largely mitigated by the higher investment and consumption from a population influx.
"We forecast that Saudi Arabia will see the highest inflation level in the GCC region," she said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: YAhoo
That Good BritExpat then you can come and visit us and spend your dirty weekends at the Ramada..wink..:)
From the last time I looked, in a fit of desperation, they would want to substantially increase the salaries on offer for Western expats.
Was looking at a Director level position, and the salary was less than what I was paying my Filipino engineers in UAE.
Truly was a joke, when you consider the stripping of basic and fundamental freedoms.
kingdom is no doubt gonna be booming state... i heard many of employees here working in power & infrastructure applied for king Abdullah Education City in Damam...
Yes.. I've applied for a couple of roles.. Let's see what happens.. :O)
An expat life takes us all over the world..
lol @ Flan
Exiledsaint...........why can't you say something positive about muslim world and islam?
i'm trying to get a job there, have been up-skilling on home brewing.
opening up has relative meaning for you and me :)
Lets hope they open up their society for the saudis and the expats
blackberry is insignificant to me and saudis..
No wonder Blackberry is retreating to this fact?
if money meets vision...sky is the limit
Brit are you thinking of heading back for a final sting?