Saudi Arabia Budget Surplus of $ 51 Billion

[Qatar4Ever]

Saudi Arabia's oil boom 'will last for years'

Saudi Arabia will reap a record budget surplus of SR191 billion ($51 billion) from high oil prices this year and enjoy strong growth and revenues for the rest of the decade, a leading Saudi bank predicted.

Samba Financial Group said the economy of the world's biggest oil exporter will grow 6.5 percent in real terms in 2005 and maintain annual growth of 5 per cent -7 per cent until 2010.

'This year will be the best in the kingdom's economic history,' Samba said in a half-year report for clients.

'...Oil revenues, the government budget surplus and the current account surplus will all register all-time highs because of exceptional oil prices and high oil production.' Samba based its 2005 forecast on an average price of $45 a barrel for Saudi crude and production levels of 9.6 million barrels per day.

It said the high world oil prices, which reached $60 a barrel for US crude earlier this month, were the result of demand growth and tight supplies which are likely to continue benefiting Saudi Arabia for the foreseeable future.

'This upswing is just beginning and will be sustainable for many years,' Samba said of the economic boom.

The bank predicted government revenues of SR527 billion ($141 billion) this year.

Even if the government overshoots its budgeted expenditure by 20 per cent, it will be left with SR191 billion surplus.

Real GDP growth of 6.5 per cent will come from 7.1 per cent growth in the oil sector, 7.4 in the non-oil private sector and 3.8 percent in the government sector, the bank said.

Samba's report, the most bullish outlook yet on the Saudi economy, said the full force of the oil price rise had yet to hit the kingdom.

While business investment is growing strongly, the state sector has not yet started lavish spending and much of the oil revenues is being accumulated as foreign reserves.

'The government is largely re-loading the fiscal cannon,' Samba said, adding the impact of high oil revenues will just begin to be felt next year and will build from then.

The last time Saudi Arabia enjoyed a comparable surge in oil prices in the 1970s, its economy was dependent on state spending and the windfall was used to build up the infrastructure of the largely pre-industrial desert state.

'This boom is different. It is private sector-led, and government supported,' Samba said.

The bank predicted government domestic debt will fall to SR604 billion this year, bringing it down to 51 per cent of GDP from a high of 119 per cent just six years ago.

But it warned that any further rapid cut in the debt might actually be counter-productive if it injected cash too quickly into the economy and fuelled asset price inflation on the stock and real estate markets.

Samba said Saudi Arabia raised its central bank foreign assets by $22 billion in the first five months of the year and predicted that the increase will grow to $50 billion -- roughly the size of the budget surplus -- by the end of the year.-Reuters

[Dubai_Boy]

191 billion :D mashalah, the UAE made 91 , so thats 100 billion extra for the saudis :D

[DXB]

وكله يروح في كروش الامراء

اغنى دولة وافقر شعب

[Dubai_Boy]

لا تعليق :)

[Skyland]

Are there any plans by Saudi-Arabia or any other super-rich Gulf state to spend some of that money for schools, universites and roads in Afghanistan? Those are currently financed mainly by European countries, mainly Germany, that have budget deficits. The people in Afghanistan desperately need help.

[Nainawaaz]

Are there any plans by Saudi-Arabia or any other super-rich Gulf state to spend some of that money for schools, universites and roads in Afghanistan? Those are currently financed mainly by European countries, mainly Germany, that have budget deficits. The people in Afghanistan desperately need help.


Skyland....people in Afghanistan do not need any more help from Saudi Arabia...what they need is less participation from countries like Saudi Arabia. They were the forfornt of misery for Afghanistan. Afghanistan despertly needs alot of things because of Countries like Saudi Arabia.

[Qatar4Ever]

Offcourse Afghanistan was God's heaven on earth and also the financial district of central asia. Russia, America, Pakistan and the ppl of afganistan, who by the way are the most peace loving cuddly ppl in the world, have nothing to wiht the current situation in afghanistan.

[Nainawaaz]

Offcourse Afghanistan was God's heaven on earth and also the financial district of central asia. Russia, America, Pakistan and the ppl of afganistan, who by the way are the most peace loving cuddly ppl in the world, have nothing to wiht the current situation in afghanistan.

No body said it was God's heaven on earth....typical arab response

[LacLongQuan]

My goodness the Arabs do nothing and still get shit load of money.

[gothicform]

are the saudis going to spend it on their own people or am i going to be confronted with more saudi princes when they come back to london for uni next year squandering huge amounts of money as thoughtlessly as before.

[Qatar4Ever]

typical arab response

Typical response of someone who really doesnt have any real arguement or stand point to defend what they had said earlier.. !!


My goodness the Arabs do nothing and still get shit load of money.

Isnt that a bitch !! What can we do if were so blessed !!

are the saudis going to spend it on their own people or am i going to be confronted with more saudi princes when they come back to london for uni next year squandering huge amounts of money as thoughtlessly as before.

Probably both !

[*UofT*]

Saudis need a huge overhaul of their Desalination plants and other infrastructure built in the early 80's late 70's. I hope to see an improvement in Jeddah and Riyadh.

And i do have to say there are quite a bit of forumers that dont hope good things for Arabs on this site.

[Qatari]

SA needs regem change

[Nainawaaz]

[QUOTE=Qatar4Ever]Typical response of someone who really doesnt have an argument



I made an argument....you didnt have a response

[Qatar4Ever]

which was ?

[source26]

hopefully the saudis wont spend it again trying to bribe Bin Ladens groups to leave them alone..
Its bad enough Bin Laden's extended Saudi family is doing millions from oil-related businesses.

[ruwaydr]

Jeddah is a boomtown.

Most the members of the Binladen family are very nice people.

[Anas Anani]

hopefully the saudis wont spend it again trying to bribe Bin Ladens groups to leave them alone..
Its bad enough Bin Laden's extended Saudi family is doing millions from oil-related businesses.


source you idiot! the bin laden family made their fortune from construction! no one bribed them and its not saudis who do the bribes, the saudi people gets nothing from the oil only fractions! its the al-saud family that bribes but they dont bribe families like bin laden which isnt any danger on them they bribe tribes, because some tribes can be a danger on them.

this is how the oil is in saudi arabia

90% for the USA for free (it was a pact made between the founder of saudi arabia and the USA, they protect the royal family from the PEOPLE!!! and they get 90% of the oil for free)

8% al-saud family

2% bribes to the people

[*UofT*]

source you idiot! the bin laden family made their fortune from construction! no one bribed them and its not saudis who do the bribes, the saudi people gets nothing from the oil only fractions! its the al-saud family that bribes but they dont bribe families like bin laden which isnt any danger on them they bribe tribes, because some tribes can be a danger on them.

this is how the oil is in saudi arabia

90% for the USA for free (it was a pact made between the founder of saudi arabia and the USA, they protect the royal family from the PEOPLE!!! and they get 90% of the oil for free)

8% al-saud family

2% bribes to the people

90% of Saudi Oil is exported free to US?? :rofl:

[smussuw]

^
Not 90% but there definatly something fishy about oil between KSA and USA.

[Marshal]

90% of Saudi Oil is exported free to US?? :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl:


Anyway, Anas whether they support it now or not (maybe due to US pressue, or attacks on kingdom itself stopped support? :dunno: ) but the princes and rich saudis did support the bin laden agenda anyway they could in the past and with the way things go with AQ, sooner or later the hypocritical saudi or should I say arab stand (by exporting their radicals to different countries rather than promote democracy so the youth of today has other means than just to glorify themselves on AQ idealogy) will sooner or later come to bite these kingdoms!


Egypt already paid for it! Saudis have in the past but not so on a large scale. Iraq is burning and actually when US leaves (and doesn't take care of the AQ problme now there due to US invasion and mishandling of that country), then the real action will start for these regimes in the gulf when thru their AQ high command in Iraq and syria, jordan, saudi they will attack all over the gulf!



MARK MY WORDS it will happen unless the regimes change themselves before the US withdrawal (which wouldn't take forever).

[Anas Anani]

^
Not 90% but there definatly something fishy about oil between KSA and USA.


no smussuw really its 90%!!! there is even a documentary made in which the saudi minister of oil confirms it after keeping it a secret www.pbs.org

[Anas Anani]

double post

[*UofT*]

^
Not 90% but there definatly something fishy about oil between KSA and USA.


That would be the case with every Authoritarian regime that has its hands on Oil reserves, Absolute power corrupts Absolutely my brethren, do not be complacent with regards to UAE crude business.

[ruwaydr]

UAE hasn't got too much oil, though.

Qatar does - and if Doha can become like Dubai (as it is heading in that direction) it will in fact be much more prosperous than Dubai, since it will have a combination of industry, tourism, and oil (which the UAE does not have much of).

However, as long as Dubai serves as the central place for investment and trade in the Middle East, it will be on top.

[Qatar4Ever]

UAE hasn't got too much oil, though.

Qatar does - and if Doha can become like Dubai (as it is heading in that direction) it will in fact be much more prosperous than Dubai, since it will have a combination of industry, tourism, and oil (which the UAE does not have much of).

However, as long as Dubai serves as the central place for investment and trade in the Middle East, it will be on top.

God ! How sad ! You couldnt be more wrong. I would check my resources before making such claims.

UAE has 10% of the world proven oil resources. That's a lot. It's probably the fourth or fifth oil exporter in the world. That's a lot.

Qatar doesnt have much oil. It produces the least of all OPEC members, barely even a million b/d.

Doha isnt heading the way of dubai, but I agree that doha will probably have more oil and gas related industries than the UAE.

Though oil doesnt count that much anymore for Dubai's GDP it still acounts the most for its gov't expenditures.

As for USA taking 90% of Saudi oil for free !! :|

[smussuw]

UAE hasn't got too much oil, though.

Qatar does - and if Doha can become like Dubai (as it is heading in that direction) it will in fact be much more prosperous than Dubai, since it will have a combination of industry, tourism, and oil (which the UAE does not have much of).

However, as long as Dubai serves as the central place for investment and trade in the Middle East, it will be on top.


What r u talking about. UAE has 10% of world oil reserves and we have already a combination of indistry and tourism.

As for Qatar. As far as I know they dont have much oil. They have natural gas. I think the third reseves after Iran and Russia.

[ruwaydr]

You're right.

What I meant to say is Doha has far greater reserves than Dubai. Soon, Dubai will be relying on everything except oil.

And, I know Dubai has tourism and industry - what I'm saying is it's running out of oil.

It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it gives other regions the ability to eventually catch up - especially Doha.

I'm not the only one who's predicting Doha is on its way to becoming like Dubai - and I believe it does have the potential to overtake it one day although that is far off right now.

[ruwaydr]

God ! How sad ! You couldnt be more wrong. I would check my resources before making such claims.

UAE has 10% of the world proven oil resources. That's a lot. It's probably the fourth or fifth oil exporter in the world. That's a lot.

Qatar doesnt have much oil. It produces the least of all OPEC members, barely even a million b/d.

Doha isnt heading the way of dubai, but I agree that doha will probably have more oil and gas related industries than the UAE.

Though oil doesnt count that much anymore for Dubai's GDP it still acounts the most for its gov't expenditures.

As for USA taking 90% of Saudi oil for free !! :|

yes i got mixed up as i explained above.

by the way your country (i.e. Qatar) will be serving Dubai with gas within two years.

[Qatar4Ever]

I know you meant Dubai not UAE, but we weren't going to let you off easily.

I still believe dubai's gov't needs to find a very stable source of income other than oil for its expenditure. The city of Dubai may live off its own prosperity, not sure the gov't of Dubai can match its revenue from investment to those of oil exports.

I think Doha will be more of an industrial and all the commerce related to the industries sort of place rather than a tourist or commerical hot spot dubai is today. I have strong believe that within the next decade qatar will be on the same level as saudi arabia in terms of its petrochemical industry, not exceding KSA, but close behind.

[Qatar4Ever]

by the way your country (i.e. Qatar) will be serving Dubai with gas within two years.

Yeah I know throught he AD based company Dolphin Energy. We wil supply AD and Dubai. Then faujrah and onwards to Oman.

Alkhaleej gas aims to serve pipeline gas to Bahrain and Kuwait.

Qatargas I mostly Japan and Spain.
Qatargas II UK and Western Europe.
Qatargas III I think the US
Qatargas IV the US

Then you have RG I, II, III, IV which will serve different markets like india, america, italy, beligum, i think turkey and maybe china.

This is just the tip of the iceberg..


dont mean to brag, but i cant help it !

[*UofT*]

Doha should be the Wealthiest of all Mid East cities though, the Boom in Qatar is gonna be HUGE, no doubt.

[B-Patriot]

The Bahrain-Qatar friendship causeway should start construction in about a couple of months time, before the end of the year...

I think its expected to take up to five years till the end of its construction... :)

[Marshal]

Causeway = pipeline??

[oogabooga]

No I think Bahraini Patriot was talking about the proposed bridge between the two countries.

[B-Patriot]

Yaa, causeway = bridge :tongue2:

[Marshal]

Yaa, causeway = bridge :tongue2:

Weird name!! :nuts: :crazy:


:D

[drmadham]

as much as KSA needs a vast improvement in their govt system - the country is improving on many fronts. Look at Jeddah, and esp the Eastern Province. More Saudis in the work force, improving infrastructure, and more money being put to the ppl than b4.

however, there still is a lot taht needs to be done.

[*UofT*]

as much as KSA needs a vast improvement in their govt system - the country is improving on many fronts. Look at Jeddah, and esp the Eastern Province. More Saudis in the work force, improving infrastructure, and more money being put to the ppl than b4.

however, there still is a lot taht needs to be done.


Yes I heard the average Saudi's wealth over the past 4 years has risen by $1500 per capita from 10500 to 12000 today. The population has also increased so its a great achievement. Hopefull Jeddah can catch up to Riyadh but i've heard its still lagging behind. The Saudis also need huge expenditure to improve sewage, roads and energy needs for the nation as a whole. It is expected to quadruple in requirements by the eyar 2020.

[Manbil]

The unemployment, poverty and other indicators are still bad compared to a state that has the largest oil reserves in the world and a population only of 20 million!

If you wanna look at good economies, look at UAE (the fact that it is trying to diversify) or Israel (how they managed to set up a country in a desert, even if they get US aid, which egypt jordan get as well, it is still a marvel how they use it!).

[Gilgamesh]

Do I smell a Marshall in here? :|

[smussuw]

Do I smell a Marshall in here? :|

No but, I smell Vengeance :lol:

Seriously is it him? Because I also had the same thought.

[luv2bebrown]

we better sell all our oil before the americans start ditching their SUVS :jk:

[Manbil]

Do I smell a Marshall in here? :|

Why? :sleepy:

[Gilgamesh]

Seriously is it him? Because I also had the same thought.

Yeah, im pretty sure it is. :yes: