Saudi Prince Salman Should Be More Practical About Reform - Bloomberg

Saudi Prince Salman Should Be More Practical About Reform - Bloomberg:

Two years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, began what he hoped would be a thoroughgoing reform of the country’s economy. Changes were certainly needed: The economy was too dependent on oil revenues, which were distributed inefficiently through patronage networks. It was clear that the country needed a vibrant, competitive private sector and to develop non-oil industries, the better to prepare for a future when it could no longer depend on the wealth lying beneath its sands.

The prince also recognized the need for social reforms. The conservative clergy had too much say in public life, whereas women had too little. He promised to bring to heel the more obscurantist preachers, and to allow women the right to drive.

But MBS, as the prince is known, got off on the wrong foot by deciding to make a public sale of shares in Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest oil company. That plan was overly ambitious: the company was extravagantly valued at $2 trillion, and the enormous initial public offering was to have been completed by this year. Now that deal has been indefinitely postponed, giving the crown prince a chance to recalibrate his strategy for reform by pursuing more practical measures.