Riyadh Metro on track despite spending cuts
01 April 2016
The $23-billion Riyadh Metro will be completed on schedule in 2019 and its budget is ring-fenced, a senior official said, quashing speculation the project could be scaled back or delayed following a slump in Saudi Arabia’s oil revenues.
Since late last year, the government has clamped down on spending to curb an annual budget deficit of about $100 billion, slowing or suspending work on some projects. In some instances, contractors and their employees have not been paid.
Yet the 176-km Riyadh Metro is unaffected, said Alwalid Alekrish, the director of Construction Development Projects and project director of the Riyadh Metro, Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA).
“A lot of people are asking are we going to cut the project back, take something out,” Alekrish told Reuters. “Up to now, we’re working as we have since the beginning. Our payments are being done in the contractual period. It’s business as usual.”
He expected all six lines and 85 stations would be operational as planned in 2019. The metro is being paid for directly from ring-fenced government funds and as such there is no specific debt or borrowings associated with the project, he said.
ADA will launch a tender in the next few months to operate and manage the metro once completed, Alekrish said, predicting this would likely be awarded in mid-2017.
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