Tycoon prince assails S Arabian fiscal policy over deficit

RIYADH, Jan 3 (AFP): Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has lashed out at the Saudi fiscal policy after projecting the largest ever budget deficit for 2015 following the slump in oil prices.
"We have reached the danger point... after starting to withdraw from the reserves," to meet the budget shortfall, Alwaleed said in a letter addressed to the finance minister.
Last week, the world's biggest crude exporter announced an expansionary 2015 budget with the largest-ever deficit of $38.6 billion.
It projected spending at $229.3 billion, a slight rise from last year's estimates, and revenues at $190.7 billion, sharply down from $228 billion projected in 2014.
Saudi Arabia, the lead producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also said it estimates 2014 actual budget deficit at $14.4 billion as both spending and revenues far exceeded projections.
Alwaleed, a member of the Saudi ruling family and the wealthiest Arab private investor, said Riyadh should not have let spending rise above projections, especially after oil prices began to decline.
Oil income contributes about 90 per cent of public revenues in the OPEC kingpin which pumps around 9.6 million barrels per day.