As Saudi Arabia prepares to tap international debt markets, potential investors will soon be scrutinizing details of the kingdom’s blueprint for a post-oil era. They may find the plan’s viability hinges on the very thing it’s been designed to ignore: crude prices. Saudi authorities are set to unveil the so-called National Transformation Program this month, and have a target to balance the budget by 2020 — after posting a shortfall of about 15 percent of economic output last year. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said cutting subsidies and other measures will add $100 billion of non-oil revenue. Below are three potential scenarios for Saudi’s fiscal outlook in 2020. Scenario 1: Plan delivers If subsidy cuts, value-added taxation and a green card-type program for foreign workers deliver an additional $20 billion of new revenue each year, Saudi Arabia could balance its budget by 2020, according to EFG-Hermes economist […]