The government's increased spending in its 2012 budget, on all levels of education and training of workers, shows its commitment to developing the country's human resources, say economic experts and analysts. This has been the strategic goal of all previous budgets. The new budget also shows greater spending across all sectors of the national economy, they added. They said that government wants to ensure sustainable development in the country and avoid the current difficult financial circumstances being experienced by various European countries. Another distinguishing feature of the new budget is the use of part of the revenue to repay public debt, which has risen to SR600 billion due to the deficits of previous budgets. Dr. Ali Al-Alaq, Professor of Finance and Economics at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Mineral Resources in Al-Khobar, said: “The budget focuses on infrastructure investment which is an effective method for attracting foreign investment, especially in the water, electricity and facilities sectors of industrial cities.” Sulaiman Al-Jashi, Chairman of the Industrial Committee at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the continued focus on mega projects will create thousands of jobs for Saudis. “We should differentiate between current and capital expenditure. Capital expenditure means spending on mega projects that will attract foreign investment and rejuvenate the Saudi economy.” Abdul Aziz Al-Teraki, a Saudi businessman, said that increased government spending on industrial cities such as Jubail 2 and Jubail 3 is part of a strategic long term plan that will revitalize and stimulate the Saudi economy. He said the new budget contains a happy surprise for the entire nation because it reduces public debt. This will have a positive impact on the national economy. __
