![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-1464744716-e1781079035995.jpg?w=2048\")
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The IMF\u2019s decision last week to\u00a0revise Saudi\u2019s GDP\u00a0for this year down\u00a0to\u00a02% from its 3.1% forecast in April was\u00a0probably\u00a0inevitable\u00a0given\u00a0the\u00a0widespread retrenchment currently underway\u00a0in the kingdom. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last week, it\u00a0emerged\u00a0that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the engine behind Saudi Vision 2030, was\u00a0replacing foreign CEOs\u00a0with local hires as part of its strategy to tighten spending and shift its focus towards domestic projects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Financial\u00a0Times,<\/em> citing an adviser to the Saudi government, reported that the changes came after the fund conducted a review of all its portfolio companies, including how they will reallocate spending in the coming years.\u00a0<\/p>\n It follows on from the release in April of PIF\u2019s\u00a0new 2026-2030 strategy which it\u00a0said\u00a0\u201cmarks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Semafor<\/em> reported that\u00a0Neom\u2019s\u00a0budget for 2026\u00a0to 2030 includes 60 billion riyals ($16 billion) in\u00a0anticipated\u00a0payments to contractors to\u00a0terminate\u00a0long-term agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n That means, for a time,\u00a0the Saudi government will spend\u00a0more money on cancelling parts of the futuristic desert city\u00a0gigaproject\u00a0than it will spend building them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dismissed by some as\u00a0\u201cmega-gimmicks\u201d,\u00a0many of Saudi\u2019s most high-profile projects\u2014including core elements of Neom\u2014have already been\u00a0watered down, frozen or cancelled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The scaling down of the Neom project came after a strategic review which has led to layoffs and a corporate restructuring.\u00a0<\/p>\n The retrenchment of Saudi\u2019s\u00a0giga\u00a0projects has been driven primarily by fiscal pressures. Riyadh projects a\u00a0deficit of roughly $44 billion\u00a0for 2026, following significant shortfalls in 2025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters as part of a briefing in Riyadh at the end of last year,\u00a0Finance Minister?Mohammed Al-Jadaan?said: \u201cWe have no ego\u2014absolutely no ego,\u201d adding\u00a0that the kingdom is willing to defer or cancel projects within its Vision 2030 program \u201cwithout blinking\u201d if they no longer make economic sense or fail to deliver value.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Concluding its visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the IMF said: \u201cLooking ahead, priorities include improving the business environment, deepening capital markets, supporting small and medium enterprises, aligning education with\u00a0labor\u00a0market needs, strengthening governance, and scaling AI adoption while mitigating associated risks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The IMF\u2019s decision last week to <\/span>revise Saudi\u2019s GDP<\/span> for this year down to 2% from its 3.1% forecast in April was probably <\/span>inevitable<\/span> given<\/span> the widespread retrenchment currently underway in the kingdom. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last week, it emerged that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the engine behind Saudi Vision 2030, was <\/span>replacing foreign CEOs<\/span> with local hires as part of its strategy to tighten spending and shift its focus towards domestic projects.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Financial Times, citing an adviser to the Saudi government, reported that the changes came after the fund conducted a review of all its portfolio companies, including how they will reallocate spending in the coming years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It follows on from the release in April of PIF\u2019s<\/span> new 2026-2030 strategy which it said \u201cmarks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation\u201d. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Earlier this week, Semafor reported that <\/span>Neom\u2019s<\/span> budget for 2026 to 2030 includes 60 billion riyals ($16 billion) in anticipated payments to contractors to terminate long-term agreements.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That means<\/span>, for a time, the Saudi government will spend more money on cancelling parts of the futuristic desert city gigaproject than it will spend building them. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dismissed by some as \u201cmega-gimmick<\/span>s<\/span>\u201d<\/span>,<\/span> many of Saudi\u2019s most high-profile projects<\/span>\u2014<\/span>i<\/span>ncluding core elements of Neom<\/span>\u2014<\/span>have already been <\/span>watered down<\/span>, frozen or cancelled. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The scaling down of the Neom project came after a strategic review which has led to layoffs and a corporate restructuring.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The retrenchment of Saudi\u2019s giga projects has been driven primarily by fiscal pressures. Riyadh projects a <\/span>deficit of roughly $44 billion<\/span> for 2026, following significant shortfalls in 2025.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking to reporters as part of a briefing in Riyadh at the end of last year,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Finance Minister?Mohammed Al-Jadaan?said: \u201cWe have no ego\u2014absolutely no ego,\u201d adding that the kingdom is willing to defer or cancel projects within its Vision 2030 program \u201cwithout blinking\u201d if they no longer make economic sense or fail to deliver value.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Concluding its visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the IMF said: \u201cLooking ahead, priorities include improving the business environment, deepening capital markets, supporting small and medium enterprises, aligning education with labor market needs, strengthening governance, and scaling AI adoption while mitigating associated risks.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Saudi #economy #redraws #ambitionsgoing #local #newbuzz #phrase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The IMF\u2019s decision last week to\u00a0revise Saudi\u2019s GDP\u00a0for this year down\u00a0to\u00a02% from its 3.1% forecast in April was\u00a0probably\u00a0inevitable\u00a0given\u00a0the\u00a0widespread retrenchment currently underway\u00a0in the kingdom. \u00a0\u00a0 Last week, it\u00a0emerged\u00a0that the Public Investment… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8986,781,581,8665,22,733,8987,8988,8985,8984,8983],"class_list":["post-6566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-ambitionsgoing","tag-economy","tag-growth","tag-imf","tag-investment","tag-local","tag-newbuzz","tag-phrase","tag-redraws","tag-saudi","tag-saudi-arabia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Saudi economy redraws ambitions – \u2018going local\u2019 is the new buzz phrase<\/h3>\n