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Saudi Arabia Considers Handing Out IOUs as Oil Prices Keep Falling

© AP Photo / Hassan Ammar, FileThis May. 3, 2009 file photo shows an oil facility in Jubeil, about 600 km from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
This May. 3, 2009 file photo shows an oil facility in Jubeil, about 600 km from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Sputnik International
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Saudi Arabia, a country long considered one of the world’s richest, is now so short of cash, due to crashed oil prices, that it may start paying its bills with “I owe you” notes.

Despite no official announcement, it is known that the country's economy has suffered significant damage, as oil prices dropped from $145 to $30 a barrel in less than a year, causing the country's deficit last year to balloon to some $98 billion.

In this aerial photo made from a helicopter, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers with the four-faced clocks stands over the holy Kaaba, as Muslims encircle it inside the Grand Mosque, during the annual pilgrimage known as the hajj, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. - Sputnik International
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The kingdom slowed some debt payments, and creditors could be receiving "I owe you" notes in the near future, instead of cash.

Facing a high probability of having to borrow some $31 billion this year, it is still uncertain whether the Saudis will reduce their oil output to drive up oil prices.

The country presented a set of reforms last month seeking to dramatically reshape the country's oil-dependent economy. The International Monetary Fund hailed these reforms, calling them "appropriately bold" and "at the right speed" to cope with the country's budget deficit.

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