December 28, 2015 – The Arabs of Saudi Arabia are not finding it easy following the decision of King Salman to slam price hike on major utilities across board with effect from Tuesday.
Saudi authorities announced today that it is raising the price of petrol by more than 50 per cent for major utilities following a deficit budget for the year 2016.
Items affected in the price hike are electricity, water, diesel and kerosene.
“The council decided to raise the price of higher-grade unleaded petrol to 0.90 riyals ($0.24) per litre from 0.60 riyals, a hike of 50 per cent, and for lower-grade petrol to 0.75 riyals ($0.20) from 0.45 riyals per litre, a 67 per cent rise”, Gulf News reported.
The announcement by King Salman’s Council will have severe consequence on the economy in days to come. For example, shortly after the announcement, Aramco said on Twitter it was immediately closing petrol stations until midnight on Monday, when it will resume sales at new prices.
Neighbouring United Arab Emirates and Kuwait earlier this year liberalise prices of fuel. Kuwait plans further hike in prices of petrol and electricity in 2016.
