Saudi Arabia construction Saudi Arabia’s governing economic body called the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) has cancelled $266.7 billion in projects, the Saudi Press Agency said, and announced it would be settling much-delayed private-sector payments by year end. The projects that have been canceled are the ones that are not expected to accelerate the kingdom’s growth or improve the living standards for its people. The cancellations were first considered in September, but at the time, it was noted that only $20 billion in projects would be considered to put on the chopping block. The size of the delayed payments—mainly due to severe hits to the kingdom’s oil revenue—remains undisclosed, but it includes delayed payments to construction firms, medical establishments, and foreign consultants. One analyst, according to Reuters, estimated that the amount still owing just to construction firms was US$21 billion. The 2016 budget deficit will not be […]