Saudi Arabia is beginning to plan to reopen its schools and universities with a target date of August 30th, according to reports. The Kingdom closed schools and universities on March 9.
The twin crises of the Coronavirus and Saudi-led efforts to stabilize the price of oil in the second quarter of this year lead to a sharp decline in the Kingdom's government revenues, Bloomberg reports.
According to latest OPEC forecasts, "the worst seems to be over with respect to global oil demand" as expectations of a rebound for the second half of this year and a positive forecast for 2021 brighten outlooks, a recent report from Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment says.
U.S. corporation Air Products and Chemicals signed an accord with Saudi-based ACWA Power International and the kingdom’s planned futuristic city of NEOM to develop a $5 billion hydrogen-based ammonia plant powered by renewable energy, according to reports.
The partial easing of lockdown restrictions in May was reflected in some economic indicators during the month, Jadwa Investment reports in its latest economic chartbook for that month.
Riyadh-based think tank KAPSARC recently released a report examining the estimated impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Saudi GDP, finding a "medium scenario" of severity as described in the report most likely.
Saudi Arabia reported a steady increase of 2,532 new coronavirus cases and 12 new deaths, which brings the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 65,077 and the virus-related death toll to 351, the Ministry of Health announced.
