Deputy minister for economy and planning says 16 entities are ‘prime’ for a government sell-off
Following an interview with Reuters a couple of weeks ago, when he came up with a staggering $200 billion estimate of the value of the government’s privatization program — excluding the value of the planned Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO) — he spoke to Bloomberg this week to hammer home the message that the strategy is gathering momentum.
Al-Tuwaijri — who is also head of the finance committee of the Kingdom’s Council of Economic and Development Affairs — said from Saudi Electricity Co., he predicted, with one earmarked for disposal this year and in each of the following three years.
The government remains “very committed” to megaprojects that would help achieve the objectives of the Vision 2030, its blueprint for life after oil, particularly infrastructure projects. He cited Jeddah’s new airport and Riyadh’s metro system, under construction, as examples.
The Citizens’ Account, a system of cash payments to compensate lowincome nationals for subsidy cuts, is on track to begin making payments after Ramadan. More than 11 million people have applied under the scheme, Al-Tuwaijri said, but eligibility is still being discussed.
“The direction we’re getting… is to be as generous as possible and cover as much as possible,” he said.
“That comes with a price,” Al-Tuwaijri added, explaining that the government is still assessing “how much of the subsidies or the lifting of the subsidies we’ll be getting … and what percentage the government is willing to balance.”
Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri, the deputy minister for economy and planning, appears to be on a media offensive to underline the Saudi government’s commitment to the economic transformation strategy envisaged in the Vision 2030 plan.