Posted on 01/23/25
| News Source: Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman told President Donald Trump he’s willing to expand investments and trade with the US in the coming four years by $600 billion, according to the kingdom’s state-run news agency SPA.
The crown prince, known as MBS, spoke to the American president in a congratulatory phone call on Wednesday, SPA said.
During the call, Prince Mohammed said the kingdom was eager to seize partnership and investment opportunities created by the new administration’s anticipated reforms, which could achieve “unprecedented economic prosperity.”
SPA did not provide further details or say what reforms the crown prince was talking about.
The commitment is large, even by the standards of oil-rich Saudi Arabia. It amounts to around 55% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The announcement comes at a time when the kingdom is posting fiscal deficits, in large part due to huge spending on Vision 2030, the crown prince’s plan to diversify the economy. In addition, oil prices have dropped since 2022 and, at around $80 a barrel, are roughly $10 a barrel below what’s needed for the government to balance its budget, according to the International Monetary Fund.
To bolster Vision 2030 — under which the government wants to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in everything from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles and tourism resorts — the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has outlined a plan to spend a greater portion of its money domestically.