Saudi Arabia was short of money.
The regional war, the drop in oil revenues and the rise in defense costs, the Saudi economy and Bin Salman's expensive projects faced a funding crisis.
According to a Bloomberg report, Saudi bank deposits fell by 1.8% in the third quarter of 2026, and the cost of providing loans increased.
On the other hand, the country's budget deficit reached 4.9% of GDP and Riyadh is looking for billions of dollars in loans to secure financial resources.