Oil crash piles pressure on oil-dependent Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: From empty hotels to shuttered beauty salons, oil-dependent Saudi Arabia is bracing for a coronavirus-led economic slump on top of possible austerity measures as crude prices go into free fall.

Huge losses are expected after the Arab world’s biggest economy shut down cinemas, malls and restaurants, halted flights, suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage and locked down eastern Qatif region home to around 500,000 in a bid to contain the deadly virus.