SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: sense who wrote (154637)3/18/2020 3:56:49 AM
From: TobagoJack  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 219603
 
Re <<Saudis>>

and the palaces & mansions in Spain and England and USA are not readily accessible for all 30,000+ members of the ruling royal family, even as MBS working to shake his cousins to make ends meet

this Cr@p show could end in dynastic overthrow

drama, pageantry, poignant tales, and poetic justice

Netflix material

must look at NFLX wager :0)



To: sense who wrote (154637)3/18/2020 8:43:06 AM
From: Dr. Voodoo1 Recommendation

Recommended By
elmatador

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 219603
 
aljazeera.com

Austerity on tap

The kingdom has healthy foreign exchange reserves, roughly $500bn, to ride out a price war, and it does enjoy the lowest production costs among all oil producers.

The Saudis "can still turn-out a profit at these low oil prices, at least for a time," Tarik Yousef, director at Brookings Doha Center, a nonprofit public policy organization, told Al Jazeera.

Balancing its budget, however, is another story.

The International Monetary Fund reckons the kingdom needs oil to fetch around $83 a barrel to balance its state budget.

Global benchmark Brent crude last traded at $33.84 a barrel on Friday.

Goldman Sachs reckons that should oil prices average $30 a barrel over the next two quarters and the kingdom boosts output by 10 percent, its budget deficit could swell to 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year -nearly double its fiscal deficit target.

That would increase the government's financing requirement by $36bn.

There could be a silver lining. Goldman estimates that if oil prices recover to $60 a barrel by the end of 2021, the kingdom's budget deficit could narrow to less than 2 percent of GDP by 2022.

But if oil prices only recover to $50 a barrel by the end of next year, Goldman sees the budget deficit remaining "wider for longer, implying an additional $63bn in funding requirements" over the next two years.

More dramaAusterity measures may have been in the cards before the kingdom declared a price war, as Riyadh prepared for slowing oil demand in the face of coronavirus.

State agencies were asked to submit proposals for slashing 20 to 30 percent from their 2020 budgets before the kingdom fell out with Russia, Reuters News Agency reported, citing sources. One source said salaries would not be touched, but projects and the awarding of new contracts could be delayed.

"With salaries largely protected, the impact could be on capital expenditure, which will have a knock-on impact on the private sector and likely hinder diversification efforts," said James.