Riyadh: European leaders are still battling over austerity. The US Congress is gearing up for another fight over the budget. But in Saudi Arabia, there are no such troubles when you are king - and you just dole out billions and billions of dollars to ordinary Saudis by royal decree.
Not surprisingly, Saudis are very happy with their new monarch, King Salman.
"It is party time for Saudi Arabia right now", said John Sfakianakis, the Riyadh-based Middle East director of the Ashmore Group, an investment company, who estimates that the king's post-coronation giveaway will ultimately cost more than $US32 billion or $41 billion.
Since Salman ascended the throne of this wealthy Arab kingdom last month, he has swiftly taken charge, abolishing government bodies and firing ministers. But no measure has caused as much buzz here as the giant payouts he ordered to a large chunk of the Saudi population.
These included grants to professional associations, literary and sports clubs; investments in water and electricity; and bonuses worth two months of salary to all government employees, soldiers, pensioners and students on government stipends at home and abroad. Some private companies followed suit with comparable bonuses for their Saudi employees, putting another few billion dollars into people's pockets. » | Ben Hubbard | Friday, February 20, 2015
