Prince Salman's Plan Misses On Revenues -- August 13, 2017

August 13, 2017: the headline suggests things are going better for Saudi Arabia but data suggests Prince Salman's plan is still fantasy. From Bloomberg, data points:

• with price of oil recovering (sort of), the kingdom's total revenue climbed 6%
• income from crude oil jumped 28%
• but, revenue from non-oil sources fell by 17%
• spending dropped 1.3%
• that non-oil revenue? taxes and fees!
• despite the government’s efforts to decrease its reliance on oil income, its share of overall revenue rose to 62 percent in the second quarter, compared to 51 percent in the same period last year, reflecting the rise in oil prices. Non-oil income fell in the same period largely because of a decline in “other revenues,” which include returns on investments by the central bank and the Public Investment Fund. Revenue collected from customs taxes and and other taxes, including the zakat religious levy, also declined
  

Track the Prince Salman plan here.