Defense Is Top Item in Saudi Budget as Yemen Fighting Rages On

December 21, 2017

Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia intends to spend more on defense than anything else next year as its war against Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen shows no signs of abating. In a budget announced hours after Saudi forces said they had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis at Riyadh, the government set aside 210 billion riyals ($56 billion) for military spending in 2018. That’s more than the 192 billion riyals it pledged for education or the 147 billion riyals the kingdom intends to spend on health and social development. It’s only the third year Saudi Arabia has revealed what it spends on defense, but in 2017 and 2016, military spending came in a close second to education…

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