Late Monday, the Saudi Arabian cabinet gave its approval to the National Transformation Program, a plan aimed at diversifying the kingdom’s economy and steering it away from oil. The plan which is aimed at boosting the country’s non-oil revenue to US$141 billion, by the year 2020, was proposed in April by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The prince said his hope was that in 20 years the country would no longer be oil-dependent. Saudi Arabia will maintain its output of 12.5 million barrels per day until 2020. The kingdom is dependent on oil for 80 percent of its revenue and has felt the sting that has come with falling oil prices. A 70-percent dip in prices from 2014-2016 resulted in a US$98 billion budget deficit for the kingdom last year. Related: Does Iran Have The Upper Hand In OPEC Oil War In response to this […]