Saudi $1 trillion in capital spending aims to shift economy
Clean energy should get $235 billion over the next five years, up from a previous forecast of $148 billion, with the increase driven by renewables
Traffic in downtown Riyadh at sunset. (Photo: Getty Images)
Saudi Arabia is headed into what Goldman Sachs terms a “capex super-cycle” as it plows more than $1 trillion into the economy and aims to strengthen industries outside the oil and gas sector.
In an analysis of the kingdom’s projected capital expenditures for the next five years, the New York-based investment bank expects about 73% to be spent on non-oil industries, up from its previous estimate of 66%.
Clean energy should get $235 billion in funding, up from a previous forecast of $148 billion, with the increase driven mainly by renewables as Saudi Arabia more than doubles its 2030 capacity target, Goldman Sachs said.
Saudi Arabia is also funding sectors that enable economic diversification away from oil, such as metals and minerals, transport and logistics, and digitalization, according to the report.