Generation game

3 January 2017 By Andy Critchlow

Ageing monarchs may hand greater powers to a younger, more progressive generation in 2017. Falling oil revenues and ballooning budget deficits are forcing sheikhdoms to make overdue economic and social reforms or risk financial meltdown. Millennial thinking could help.

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Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been handed sweeping powers to reform the region’s largest economy.

In 2016, the prince announced the kingdom’s intention to sell a stake in its state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco and diversify the economy away from dependence on crude by 2030.

Brent crude prices fell below $30 per barrel in early 2016, forcing governments in the Gulf to make deep cuts to spending. The benchmark has recovered sharply after OPEC agreed on Nov. 30 to cut production and is up 56 percent over the last year. Brent was trading at $58 per barrel on Jan. 3.

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