Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced a 12 trillion riyal (roughly $ 3.2 trillion, 2.730 billion euros) investment plan to boost its private sector by 2030, as part of the kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy ultra dependent on oil.
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This announcement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, de facto ruler of the Saudi kingdom, comes as the country faces high unemployment and severe economic hardship caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and falling prices of gross.
"The investments injected (...) into the national economy should reach 12 trillion riyals by 2030"
, declared the crown prince during a speech broadcast by state television.
This amount includes 3 trillion riyals (about 800 billion dollars, 682 billion euros) from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The plan aims to
"strengthen the private sector"
, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and providing support to local businesses, added Mohammed ben Salman.
In January, the crown prince announced that the PIF would invest 40 billion dollars (around 34 billion euros) per year in the Saudi economy for five years.
The PIF had previously focused on investments in the giants of the global economy.
Double shock of the pandemic and the fall in prices
The first economy in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is struggling to attract foreign investment, the keystone of the Crown Prince's Vision 2030 plan, which aims to diversify the kingdom's economy.
The unemployment rate reached 14.9% in the third quarter of 2020 in Saudi Arabia, a slight decrease from the record of 15.4% reached in the previous quarter, according to official figures.
In 2020, the double shock of the pandemic and the fall in oil prices pushed the kingdom to triple its VAT to 15% and to eliminate monthly allowances intended for civil servants to contain its budget deficit.
Very unpopular among a population accustomed to government largesse, these austerity measures have been put in place even as the kingdom continues to increase its spending on mega-projects like NEOM, a futuristic megalopolis of 500. billion dollars being developed on the Red Sea.