09/05/2009
Some expected that the reduction in oil prices would put a strain on the Saudi budget for the next two years however, financial expert John Sfakianakis of SABB Bank said that he is not worried about the Kingdom's ability to overcome expected budget strains next year because of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency's large foriegn reserves and substantial foreign investments overseas.
John Sfakianakis spoke to Al-Watan newspaper after HSBC bank reported that a 30 million dollar budget deficit (112.5 million Saudi riyals) was expected for 2009 and 2010. Sfakianakis added that as long as oil prices remained in the 50 dollar per barrel range that "any budget strains could be easily overcome in 2009 and 2010." He also expected that oil prices would rise again once the global financial crisis abates in 2010.
