Saudi to Shelve, Reform Billions of Dollars of Unfinished Projects -Sources

Riyadh’s Bureau of Capital and Operational Spending Rationalization, set up last year to make the government more efficient, is compiling a list of projects that are under 25 percent complete, the sources told Reuters.

Many of these projects are relics of a decade-long boom of high oil prices and lavish state spending, which ended when oil began sliding in mid-2014, making it increasingly difficult for Riyadh to find the money needed to complete their construction.

Officials will study the feasibility of the projects in light of the government’s reform drive, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil exports, and decide whether to suspend them indefinitely or try to improve how they are conducted.

“Some projects could be retendered so they can be executed in partnership with the private sector, possibly through build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts,” said one source familiar with the plan, declining to be named as the matter is not yet public.

Under BOT contracts, private investors finance and build projects and operate them for a period of time to earn a profit before eventually transferring ownership to the government.

Riyadh has said it is keen to begin bringing the private sector into projects to ease pressure on state finances.

“Other projects could be suspended if they do not meet the current economic objectives,” the source said. Recommendations for some projects may be made within days, he added.