Saudi Arabia Said to Delay Contractor Payments as Oil Slumps 곳간 빈 사우디...공사비 지급 지연(VIDEO)
Saudi Arabia Said to Delay Contractor Payments as Oil Slumps
최저 6개월 지급 지연
국제유가 하락 재정적자 주 요인
source bloomberg.com
edited by kcontents
케이콘텐츠 편집
사우디아라비아 정부가 도로나 항만 건설 대금을 늦춰 지급하고 있어 한국 건설회사들이 직간접적으로 영향받을 전망이다. 블룸버그 통신은 19일 사우디 정부 관계자의 말을 빌려 “정부가 발주한 도로나 항만 등을 건설한 회사들에 공사대금을 (예정보다) 최저 6개월씩 미뤘다가 지급하고 있다”고 보도했다. 블룸버그는 “핵심 관계자 3명이 이름을 보도하지 않는다는 조건을 달아 공사대금 지연을 귀띔했다”며 “올 들어 사우디 정부의 공사대금 결제 지연이 늘어나고 있을 뿐만 아니라 공사 계약 가격을 깎으려 한다”고 전했다. 사우디엔 국내 대형 건설회사들이 많이 진출해 있다. 사우디 대금 미루기는 국제유가 하락에 따른 재정적자 탓이다. 기름값(WTI 기준)은 지난해 6월 배럴당 107달러 정도에서 19일 현재 46달러 정도로 추락했다. 사우디 정부는 재정 수입의 80% 정도를 원유 수출에 의존하고 있다. 톰슨로이터 등에 따르면 사우디가 재정적자를 면하기 위해서는 국제원유가가 배럴당 98달러 정도는 돼야 한다. 현재 가격으로 원유를 수출할 때마다 배럴당 50달러 정도씩 재정적자가 늘어나는 셈이다. 실제 올해 사우디 재정적자는 국내총생산(GDP)의 9%에 이를 전망이다. 그리스의 재정적자는 위기 기간 동안 10~15% 사이였다. 블룸버그는 “사우디 정부가 국고의 현금을 최대한 아끼기 위해 공사대금을 지연하고 있다”며 “그 바람에 준공까지 기간이 길어지고 있다”고 했다. 사우디는 고유가 시대 오일머니를 대거 축적했지만 최근 유가 하락과 예멘 내전 개입 등으로 재정상태가 나빠지고 있다. 최근엔 국채를 발행해 돈을 조달하기도 했다. 영국계 금융그룹인 HSBC의 수석 이코노미스트인 사이먼 윌리엄스는 이날 블룸버그와 인터뷰에서 “현재 사우디 재정적자가 너무 커 아무일도 없던 것처럼 공사 등을 진행할 수는 없는 상황”이라고 설명했다. 중앙일보강남규 기자 dismal@joongang.co.kr |
by Matthew Martin
October 19, 2015
Government said not to pay some bills for more than 6 months
Country also said to seek to renegotiate contractors' pricing
Saudi Arabia is delaying payments to government contractors as the slump in oil prices pushes the country into a deficit for the first time since 2009, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Companies working on infrastructure projects have been waiting for six months or more for payments as the government seeks to preserve cash, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Delays have increased this year and the government has also been seeking to cut prices on contracts, the people said.
Saudi Arabia is responding to the decline in crude, which accounts for about 80 percent of revenue, by tapping foreign reserves, cutting spending, delaying projects and selling bonds. Net foreign assets fell by about $82 billion at the end of August after reaching an all-time high last year. The country has raised 55 billion riyals ($15 billion) from debt issuance this year.
“It’s hard to hold back from boosting spending when oil is on the rise, but very hard to cut when oil prices fall,” Simon Williams, chief economist for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa at HSBC Holdings Plc, said in e-mailed comments. “Cuts are coming -- the budget deficit is too large to ignore and pretend it’s business as usual.”
Saudi Arabia's Net Foreign Assets
Payment delays could slow the completion of projects under construction, including the $22 billion Riyadh metro, and curb the expansion needed to create jobs for a rising population. In the past, government spending has been a catalyst for growth. For example, when authorities announced $130 billion in social spending in 2011, the economy expanded 10 percent. This year, growth will probably be about 3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A spokesman for the finance ministry declined to comment.
The lower price of crude -- it’s fallen by about half in the past 12 months -- coupled with the kingdom’s spending plans, will leave Saudi Arabia with a budget deficit exceeding 400 billion riyals this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The aggregate deficit for 2015 to 2017 is likely to exceed $300 billion, according to a report by HSBC. The government has ordered a series of cost-cutting measures, including a freeze on new construction contracts and bans on buying new vehicles or furniture, two people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg earlier this month.
“We have already seen a pick-up in loan growth at some of the Saudi banks in Q2 as contractors borrow to fund their cash flows as a result of a slowdown in payments,” Aqib Mehboob, a senior analyst at Saudi Fransi Capital, said by phone from Riyadh Monday.
Still, Saudi Arabia’s public debt is among the world’s lowest, with a gross debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 2 percent in 2014. Saudi Arabia will probably sell about 120 billion riyals of debt in 2016, compared to 135 billion riyals this year, according to a research note by Saudi Fransi Capital. Real estate stocks have also outperformed the Tadawul All Share Index.
The Tadawul All Share Real Estate Development Industries Index advanced 6.5 percent in 2015 through Monday, compared with a 6.8 percent decline in the benchmark stock gauge.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in boosting production to defend market share, abandoning its previous role of cutting output to boost prices. The country is now storing record amounts of crude amid a decline in shipments. Exports dropped to 7 million barrels a day in August from 7.28 million in July, while commercial crude stockpiles rose to 326.6 million barrels, the highest since at least 2002, according to data posted on the website of the Riyadh-based Joint Organisations Data Initiative.
Approximately 140 billion riyals of construction contracts were awarded in Saudi Arabia in the first half, a 12.4 percent increase compared with the first six months of 2014, according to a report by Jeddah-based National Commercial Bank.
International contractors working on infrastructure projects in the kingdom include Bechtel Group Inc., Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, Ansaldo STS SpA and Drake & Scull International PJSC.
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