Saudis to Cut Military Spending as Trump Touts Weapons Sales
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Saudi Arabia will cut military spending for a second straight year in 2019, when education is set to overtake it as the budget’s biggest item, according to official projections published on Tuesday.
The Saudi armed forces are among the world’s leading weapons buyers, a role often cited by President Donald Trump to defend America’s close alliance with the kingdom. But they’ll have 12 percent less to spend next year, after getting allocated a budget of 191 billion riyals ($51 billion). Spending on education will also drop, by 6 percent to 193 billion riyals. Overall outlays are projected to rise 7 percent as the kingdom boosts capital investment.