Saudi Arabia is on track to become the world’s fifth-largest military spender by 2020 as it boosts its defence budget by 27 per cent over the next five years despite lower oil prices. With regional conflicts worsening the oil-rich kingdom‘s neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are also planning to increase spending on their militaries, said consultancy IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security. By contrast, smaller Gulf states are reacting to the lower oil-price by making deeper cuts to defence plans. The IHS forecasts assume oil prices will recover to $80 a barrel by 2017, rising to $100 a barrel by the end of the decade. IHS says Saudi defence spending will be $48.7bn in 2015, a 2 per cent contraction over last year. It will rise slightly to $49.5bn next year before jumping to $52bn in 2017 and reaching $62bn by 2020. Riyadh’s defence budget had been […]