Saudi Arabia’s Socio-Economic Development: Issues of Gender and State Identity

Anotace: In April 2016, the launch of Saudi Vision 2030 was announced by the crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman as a development programme aimed at reducing the country’s dependency on oil rent. In fact, as the largest oil-exporter of the world, 30-40% of Saudi Arabia’s real GDP derives from oil revenues under the form of rent. Saudi rentier economy is therefore largely sustained by public expenditure, notably altering the fiscal function of the state, which establish itself as an allocative agent instead. By enhancing its distributive role, rentierism suppresses the need for democratization. The foreseeable decline in oil revenues and rent circulation has however exposed the vulnerabilities of a constant dependency on oil prices, highlighting the urgency of economic diversification, an issue that oil-based economies in the Gulf have been trying to address since the onset of oil production. The Saudi Vision 2030 aims at addressing such concerns though a plurality of programmes, investing different economic and social aspects of the country.