Saudi Arabia economy - updates

Rappler's latest stories on Saudi Arabia economy

ARTICLE FINDER

Saudi triples VAT in unpopular virus-led austerity push

Jul 01, 2020 - 2:00 PM

Retailers in Saudi Arabia report a sharp uptick in sales this week of everything from gold and electronics to cars and building materials, as shoppers sought to stock up before VAT is raised to 15%

Saudis shop at a jewellery shop in the Taiba gold market in the capital Riyadh on June 29, 2020, after authorities announced a 10% increase in the VAT rate, to reach 15%, starting from first of July. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

Curtailed hajj compounds Saudi economic woes

Jun 28, 2020 - 9:50 PM

The coronavirus batters pilgrimage-reliant businesses that support hundreds of thousands of jobs in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca

This picture taken on May 24, 2020 during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, shows an aerial view of Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, with the Abraj al-Bait Mecca Royal Clock Tower overlooking the Grand Mosque and Kaaba in the centre. - Saudi Arabia began a five-day, round-the-clock curfew from May 23 after COVID-19 coronavirus infections more than quadrupled since the start of Ramadan to around 68,000 -- the highest in the Gulf. (Photo by STR / AFP)

IMF sharply cuts Saudi forecast as oil, virus hit economy

Jun 24, 2020 - 10:45 PM

The International Monetary Fund predicts Saudi Arabia's economy will contract by 6.8% in 2020

A picture taken on March 23, 2020, shows the empty King Fahd road in the Saudi capital Riyadh after authorities imposed a curfew for 21 days to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

Saudi downturn deepens Yemen's economic despair

Jun 22, 2020 - 6:10 PM

With Saudi Arabia's economy reeling from low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, observers say it no longer appears willing – or able – to pour billions into Yemen

YEMEN WAR. A Yemeni child buys sweets from Majd al-Din al-Shamiri (unseen), a 16 year-old Yemeni who set up a shop in his family's car that was destroyed during the ongoing war in his country, in the Jabal Sabr area of the southwestern city of Taez, on September 28, 2019. File photo by Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP

Saudi wealth fund 'shopping spree' belies economic pain

Jun 14, 2020 - 9:00 AM

Amid Saudi Arabia's worst economic crisis in decades, the seemingly contradictory state policy to splurge billions on overseas assets is raising eyebrows

An aerial view shows a deserted highway due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr feast marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on May 24, 2020. - Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, began a five-day round-the-clock curfew from May 23, in a bid to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Photo by FAISAL AL-NASSER / AFP)

Saudi Arabians reel from austerity drive after oil-rich 'magic decade'

May 15, 2020 - 11:00 AM

Saudi Arabia further erodes a once generous welfare system, leaving the mostly young population to cope with a new reality of reduced incomes, fewer jobs, and a lifestyle downgrade

A worker and a man carry grocery bags during a nationwide curfew to stem the spread of COVID-19, as they leave a supermarket in the Saudi capital Riyadh on April 9, 2020 ahead of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. - From cancelled iftar feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramadan fasting as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers. Ramadan is a period for both self reflection and socialising. Believers fast from dawn to dusk and then gather around a family or community meal each evening of Islam's holiest month, which begins later this week and ends with Eid al-Fitr festivities. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

Saudi to triple VAT, suspend handouts in virus-led austerity drive

May 11, 2020 - 8:10 PM

(UPDATED) The Saudi Arabian government announces that the cost of living allowance given to citizens will be halted beginning June, and value-added tax will be raised from 5% to 15% starting July

OUTBREAK. A Saudi man, wearing a protective mask as a precaution against COVID-19, walks past a mural showing the face of King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh on March 15, 2020. Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP

Panicked Qatar shoppers stock up as Gulf rift bites

Jun 06, 2017 - 7:45 AM

Shoppers pile trollies and baskets high and shelves are stripped of essentials such as milk rice and chicken

SHOPPING. People buy snacks at a shop in Doha, on June 5, 2017. Stringer/AFP