Saudi Arabia: Measures of Transition from a Rentier State

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Authors
Looney, Robert E.
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2000-05
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Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to assess the extent to which Saudi Arabia's longterm economic development strategy is meeting its objectives. Early on after the 1973-74 oil boom, the government decided that a high proportion ofthe country's oil revenues should be spent in a manner that would encourage private sector investment and production. I Part of a larger political/military strategy,2 the economic component was to diversify the economy away from oil to the extent that self-sustaining growth could occur in the major non-oil sectors ofthe economy. Clearly, the goal is the creation of an economy capable of functioning independently of developments in the oil sector. This strategy was intended to provide more stability to the country's pattern of economic growth and development, and while several oil-producing countries express this desire, the Kingdom's planners put together a coherent investment strategy, focused on achieving this result. 3 At least publicly, the strategy has remained in place since the early 1970s.
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Book Chapter
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This is a chapter from the following book: Looney, R.E., "Saudi Arabia: Measures of Transition from a Rentier State" in Joseph Kechichian ed., Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf States (New York: Palgrave 2001). Conference at Middle East Center, UCLA, May 2000
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National Security Affairs
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.