Booming oil prices are flooding Arab countries with money, but where the lion's share of that wealth would once have been pumped into the world's financial markets, much of it is now being spent at home.
Gulf states are embarking on their biggest spending spree on record as they lavish funds on domestic projects—from new housing and hospitals to mosque restoration and job creation—largely as a defensive response to the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled other Middle East governments last year. Government outlays in the region are set to reach $488.6 billion this year, according to recent Institute of International Finance estimates, up 35% from 2009's figure.
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