Sign in
No single story is dominating coverage of Saudi in foreign press, but Bloomberg is out with a piece suggesting a government committee led by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman is wrapping up a review of mega projects such as Neom, which could see its budget for this year getting a 20% trim. Bloomberg’s reporting relies on unnamed sources. The business information service said plans for downsizing were not concrete and were subject to further changes at any time.
REMEMBER- Officials have lately hammered the idea of preventing the economy from overheating on the back of its economic diversification push. Some have taken to calling gigaprojects modular and Neom has gone on a drive to underscore to contractors and bankers that everything is on track after reports suggesting a slower buildout earlier this year.
A sign of maturity: The “rightsizing” of projects show a sign of maturity by the Kingdom, Goldman Sachs Mena economist Farouk Soussa said. “What they’re doing in terms of adjusting these projects gives us a lot of comfort,” Soussa said. “They’re basically saying they’re not going to go for broke or bet the house on any one particular thing. If it’s possible, they’ll do it. If not, they won’t. They’re being quite sensible.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times is the latest to look into Saudi’s gaming scene, describing the inaugural Esports World Cup in Riyadh as a “coming-out party for Saudi Arabia’s growing video game industry.”
