Economics
Tax Hikes and Covid Can’t Stop Trapped Saudis From Spending
- Oil, vaccine rollout and home vacations fueling rebound
- Consumer spending at 2019 levels, defying austerity measures
Photographer: Faisal al-Nasser/AFP/Getty Images
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At Mamo Michelangelo, a French cuisine fine-dining spot in Riyadh, the next available dinner slot is in mid-September.
The restaurant’s reservations phone line that never stops ringing is evidence of the potent fuel propelling a Saudi economic rebound that’s defying gloomy forecasts: billions of dollars in “trapped spending,” money kept at home by some of the world’s tightest travel restrictions during much of the pandemic.