The troubles that Saudi Arabia has been facing due to the plunge in oil prices have been discussed many times, most recently when Saudi authorities ordered banks to stop allowing speculators to bet against the Riyal. Liquidity worries have also surfaced, as late last month Saudi Arabia indicated that it was considering paying contractors with government issued bonds – read: IOUs. GDP growth has slowed significantly… (Click to enlarge) While debt to GDP has soared relative to prior years And Riyal forwards have plunged as bets on devaluation soar (despite government bans) (Click to enlarge) Against that backdrop, although oil has rebounded from recent lows, budgets are still light and in an attempt to help raise revenues in the short term (and transition away from dependency on oil in the longer term), the government is weighing an income tax on expat workers. As Bloomberg reports , in […]