Saudi crown prince's ambitious reforms quashed with 'postponement' of Aramco IPO
By Dan Boylan - The Washington Times - Sunday, September 2, 2018 The abrupt indefinite “postponement†last month of Saudi Arabia’s plan to sell off part of the treasured state oil company Aramco, projected to be the largest-ever sale of stock to the public at more than $100 billion, is raising even bigger questions about the state of hard-charging Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s drive to transform the oil giant’s economy and profile in the world.
Saudi officials touted the initial public offering as a critical first step to raise revenue, reform the oil sector and underwrite the effort to diversify the economy, attract foreign investors and tourists, and find meaningful work for the rising generation of young Saudis. On an even more ambitious scale, the Aramco sale was seen as key to the 33-year-old crown prince’s bid to consolidate his authority at home and bolster Saudi Arabia and its allies in the struggle for influence against regional archrival Iran.
The crown prince “has been rather clubfooted and has scared away investors,†Joshua Landis, director of the Middle East Center at the University of Oklahoma, said in a phone interview.
Widely known as MBS, the charismatic and popular prince is the acknowledged power behind the throne of his father, King Salman, and has spent the past year introducing — some say force-feeding — political and social liberalizations in one of the world’s most hermetic kingdoms.
The bold moves have earned him praise in Riyadh and Washington as an Arab reformer. The prince was also the prime mover behind the idea to sell off 5 percent of Saudi Aramco, long the crown jewel of the Saudi economy and the source of the fabulous riches of the ruling family.
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/2/mohammed-bin-salmans-aramco-ipo-cutoff-signals-sau/
