How to kick-start the great Saudi privatization bonanza | Arab News:
"Saudi Arabia is on the threshold of a revolution in its financial and equity markets, as it seeks to reduce both oil dependency and the overweening power of the public-sector economy. But revolutions are notoriously difficult to control once they are set in train, and can have unpredictable consequences. Just ask the French, Russians and Iranians.
Of the two aims — lessening the importance of oil and increasing the power of the private sector — the former is the big headline-grabber, but the latter is the more difficult to achieve. If the initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco is achieved late next year or early 2019, it will be a symbolic but highly significant step toward moving away from oil dependency. Policymakers can tick one big box as “mission accomplished.”
But getting away from the domination of the public sector — much of it funded by oil revenue — will be much more difficult. The private sector still lags way behind as a generator of economic growth and employment, and is still largely dependent on government expenditure for its basic economic activity."
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment