NOURNEWS- The British newspaper The Guardian published an article today (Tuesday) entitled "The End of an Age; "Falling oil prices may force the Saudis to cut off arms spending," he said, adding that the world's fifth-largest arms buyer is "pocketing" these days and is patching up his policies.
Experts predict that Saudi Arabia may be forced to abandon new arms deals and delay the purchase of previously agreed weapons due to the financial crisis it is facing. This delay in arms deals could have long-term political consequences for the country, under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. A person who is the cause of the bloody war with Yemen as a neighboring country.
"Due to the collapse of oil markets and the turmoil in the global economy caused by the all-out disease of Covid-19, declining oil demand is expected to create an unprecedented crisis in the Saudi budget," the Guardian reported.
"I have no doubt that this is the end of an era," said Bruce Riddle, a senior member of the Washington-based Brookings Institution. The Persian Gulf era is over with all its money.
Saudi Arabia spent about $ 62 billion (51 billion) on arms purchases last year, making it the world's fifth-largest arms buyer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). Although this figure was lower than in 2018, it still accounts for about 8% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, meaning that it spends most of its wealth on arms purchases from the United States (3.4%), China. (1.9 percent), Russia (3.9 percent) and India (2.4 percent).
Andrew Feinstein, an expert on global arms corruption and trade, believes that if Saudi Arabia has not yet been one of the world's largest arms buyers, we should not expect the West and powerful countries to support the kingdom. According to Ficentin, one of the consequences of buying a gun is that you also buy relationships.
For example, in the past, President Donald Trump has justified his quiet response to the assassination of Jamal Khashgeji, a Washington Post reporter, by pointing to the purchase of weapons by the Saudis and its impact on jobs in his country.
But Britain has sold more weapons to Saudi Arabia than any other country (more than ۷ 4.7 billion in weapons since Saudi Arabia launched its offensive against Yemen in March 2015), and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has criticized Britain for being dangerous. Violation of humanitarian law is due to the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, which has also issued arms licenses to Riyadh.
At the time, Riddle and other experts believed that Saudi Arabia had no choice but to delay arms deals.
"I expect them (the Saudis) to delay some major purchases in the short term, such as a new set of fighter jets from Britain that they have been negotiating for a long time," said Andrew Smith of the Anti-Arms Trade Campaign.
Former Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Firestain also said that the Saudis could easily postpone or cancel the new arms deals, but that the Saudi government would likely have to keep the arms deals in order to maintain its current strength. He stressed: "Saudi Arabia has in the past sought to reconsider the payment of weapons and has increased the payment period over long periods.
But the financial crisis is not the only concern for bin Salman. The prospect of Joe Biden's possible victory in the November 2020 presidential election (November 1999) could disrupt many of the Saudi Crown Prince's plans. Biden had previously said he would limit the sale of American weapons to Saudi Arabia.
But Riddle, who has served as CIA's chief intelligence officer for 30 years, stressed that among the companies hit hardest by the Saudi financial crisis is Britain's Bismillah Systems (British Defense and Aerospace Industries). Thousands of employees of the British company, whose jobs depend on supporting the Saudi Air Force, will no doubt be told sooner or later, "We can no longer pay you."
"The price of oil should be around $ 85 a barrel so that the Saudi budget does not fall short," Riddle said. Meanwhile, the country is withdrawing its foreign exchange reserves, which have fallen from $ 750 billion to $ 500 billion over the past five years.
Saudi Arabia appears to be wasting its resources, despite recent increases in taxes and budget cuts.
The Guardian added that the Saudi-controlled wealth fund, funded by bin Salman, has spent most of its shares in the Newcastle United Football Club and hundreds of millions of dollars in shares of Carnival Cruise Line.
IRNA
NOURNEWS