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Saudi Arabia in financial trouble
Diplomatic sources say that the Consultative Council in Saudi Arabia, the Majlis al-Shura is deeply concerned by the presence of U.S. troops in the kingdom and the prospect of war on Iraq, and also by the looming economic crisis.It's the economy, Omar! Economists with the Shura urged sweeping economic reforms on the basis of startling figures of the real financial plight of the oil-rich kingdom. They report public debts as high as $180 billion. Among its IOUs, the kingdom owes about $63 billion to buyers of government bonds, $32 billion to Saudi commercial banks, $37 billion to the pension fund, $18 billion to the General Organization for Social Insurance, $14 billion to other funds and organizations and $10 billion to farmers and contractors. The Shura economists advocate a gradual paying down of the debt, but insist it be done without cutting social programs. Social programs = funding Islamist schools. This is why they can't stop selling us oil. Posted by: Steve 2002-11-15 |
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