Saudi Arabia Announces Sweeping Plan to Overhaul Its Economy, End Its “Addiction to Oil”

Saudi Arabia announced a long-awaited plan Monday to dramatically reshape the country’s economy, aiming to free it from its decades-long dependence on oil. The move by the Saudis may have been expected, but that doesn’t make it any less of a sea change for the country that accumulated great wealth and power during the era of big oil and petro-based global economic growth.

Now, prices have plummeted, the specter of climate change is changing consumption patterns, and to keep up with the times, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says the country needs to make changes. The biggest will be its move away from relying on oil; bin Salman says the country will be able to live without oil altogether by 2020....
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/25/saudi_arabia_announces_economic_overhaul_to_end_oil_dependency.html