Pressing on with reforms

For the first time in a generation, Saudi Arabia has posted two budget surpluses in a row. Sustained oil prices underlie this, though, and economic reform needs to be kept at the top of the kingdom's agenda.

CONTINUED HIGH OIL prices are setting the Saudi Arabian budget on course for a second year of surplus, structural reforms are starting to come into effect and the private sector is beginning to grow at a level needed to create jobs and reduce dependence on oil.

The most important question now facing the country’s economic planners is whether they can sustain the momentum of change and ensure that the best-qualified figures are in place to control the transformation to an open, private-sector-driven economy.

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