Saudi Arabia’s success in leading both OPEC and non-OPEC production partners in reigning in record high OECD oil inventories amid the group’s ongoing oil output cut is starting to pay off for Riyadh. In a report late last week BMI Research said that the Saudi economy is poised to grow by 1.6 percent this year amid a rebound in oil prices and an easing of fiscal austerity. “The Saudi economy will recover in 2018, as continued gains in oil prices support the government’s move towards a more expansionary fiscal policy in turn boosting consumption in the Kingdom,” BMI said in its report . However, the introduction of a new 10 percent VAT on private sector activity will be a drag on the country’s private sector for the first half of the year, the report added. Yet, despite its efforts at pivoting the economy away from overreliance on oil revenue, […]