King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has fired the head of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, Fahd al-Mubarak, who headed the kingdom’s central bank from 2011-2016, became the deputy head of the country’s central bank, Sputnik reported, quoting the Saudi press.
Ahmed bin Abdul Karim al-Khalifa has been ousted, although no word has been released on his whereabouts.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is facing a deep recession following the outbreak of Covid 19. Global demand for crude oil has declined, and measures to curb the corona virus have hurt domestic activities. This situation has led many experts to believe that the Corona crisis and the increase in taxes and other decisions that are to the detriment of the citizens will challenge the Saudi government.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, which forms the basis of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s work to bring about change in Saudi Arabia, has been suspended in most parts. Aramco Oil Company’s revenues in the first four months of this year fell by 25 percent. International Monetary Fund reports show that Saudi Arabia needs to sell oil for $ 76 to set up a balanced budget. Meanwhile, oil prices are lower than this figure.
The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia has recently become a monetary authority that stimulates the country’s economic growth, with the kingdom’s foreign exchange reserves estimated at $ 453 billion.
In 2020, the Central bank provided $ 27 billion to local banks to cover the deferral of loans to small businesses affected by the Corona epidemic.