(MENAFN- Arab Times) The king of Saudi Arabia has sacked the country's water and electricity minister, Abdullah al-Hussayen, amid public anger over price hikes, state media reported. King Salman issued a decree on Saturday ordering his dismissal and replacement in the interim by Agriculture Minister Abdel Rahman al-Fadli, said the official SPA news agency. His removal comes after the government reduced subsidies on electricity, water and other services.
In March, the Arab News daily reported that Hussayen had called on citizens to get permits to dig their own wells in the face of increasing complaints about high water bills. And earlier this month the newspaper said that the advisory Shura Council "appeared unconvinced" when its members grilled Hussayen and his officials about the bills.
In December, a series of unprecedented reforms were adopted in the desert kingdom, which has been hit hard by the steep fall in global oil prices over the past two years. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is seen as the architect of the reforms, is to set announce on Monday a programme aimed at diversifying an economy that depends on oil for 70 percent of state revenues. Saudi Arabians are anticipating with hope, doubt and worry the release this week of a government plan to liberate the kingdom from its reliance on oil, which could solve deep-rooted problems but bring economic pain.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old son of King Salman, is to announce on Monday his "Saudi Vision 2030", which is expected to set goals for the next 15 years and a broad policy agenda to reach them, official sources say. Economic details of the vision, a package of state budget reforms, regulatory changes and policy initiatives for the next fi ve years known as the "National Transformation Plan", are expected to be released four to six weeks later. Reform drives have come and gone in Saudi Arabia several times in the past few decades with only modest results.
The kingdom remains dangerously dependent on oil exports and low global prices created a state budget deficit of nearly $100 billion in 2015, emphasising the need for change. Hundreds of thousands of Saudis are speculating in newspapers, on television, in social media and in private conversations about the contents of Monday's announcement.
Many, particularly young people, say they welcome change, believing it will bring jobs, new economic opportunities and eventually perhaps more social freedom - conceivably, for example, the right for women to drive. Others doubt much change can be achieved in the kingdom's conservative society, or worry that the programme will be painful as welfare benefits are cut to protect state finances and the government pushes more Saudis into the private sector jobs instead of cushy public employment.
The government's official Twitter account for the announcement, @SaudiVision2030, has gained 226,000 followers since it was launched last Wednesday. Prominent Saudi economist Abdulhamid al-Amri said on Twitter that he had been hoping for such a comprehensive vision for over 10 years - a delay he believes has cost Saudi Arabia the equivalent of hundreds of billions of dollars. "The absence of such a vision led to the waste of trillions of riyals, the spread of monopolies, corruption, unemployment, poverty and the delay of development projects," he wrote.
But he added, "Laying out a vision is the fi rst step on a road of a million miles - the implementation remains." Many of the broad outlines of Vision 2030 are already known; they include an efficiency campaign within the government, a bigger role for the non-oil private sector, and more aggressive management of the kingdom's foreign assets to increase returns.
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