New spending data on Saudi gigaprojects confirm that the kingdom is moving faster on Riyadh and Red Sea developments, while slowing the pace of NEOM outlays. Of the $1.55 trillion in the pipeline, almost $440 billion in contracts have already been awarded, according to Emirates NBD. Most of the expenditure is in housing, power, and gas, while future plans lean heavily toward gigaprojects.
Nearly half of the kingdom’s development plans are tied to the sovereign wealth fund’s five so-called gigaprojects — NEOM, Diriyah, ROSHN, Red Sea, and Qiddiya — with NEOM alone earmarked for 77% of the total spending. Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan recently said the government would “take stock” of project spending amid lower oil prices and rising deficits.