DAVOS: Saudi Arabia will pump the proceeds from last month’s listing of oil giant Saudi Aramco into the local economy over several years, including building up the domestic defence industry amid tensions with Iran, its finance minister said on Tuesday.
“We in Saudi have to focus on the economy and reform … We firmly believe the disputes can only be resolved by dialogue.” The United States is sending additional military forces to Saudi Arabia, and France has deployed a radar system to bolster the kingdom’s air defences. “We work with our military industry to develop our own military assets in the mid-term to deal with these risks, including investment by PIF,” he added.The Saudi economy, the largest in the Arab world, remains dominated by hydrocarbon revenues despite plans to diversify.
He also predicted a smaller deficit by the end of the year than announced last month, when Riyadh said it could face a deficit of nearly US$50 billion this year.