WST: Saudi Megacity NEOM to Cost Almost $9 Trillion, Take Over 50 Years to Build

RIYADH (KI) – Saudi Arabia’s construction of its megacity project NEOM is projected to cost almost $9 trillion and take over five decades to complete, an internal audit has revealed.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), an internal audit presented to NEOM’s board of directors last summer found that the Saudi megacity project is set to take significantly longer than expected and is rapidly becoming a drain on financial resources, with delays and budget overruns plaguing the project.
Compared to the initial cost of $500 billion previously set for the project’s completion, the new cost projected by the audit reaches $8.8 trillion, with the project also reportedly facing another 55 years of construction.
That cost amounts to more than 25 times the amount of Saudi Arabia’s annual budget, with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – the Public Investment Fund (PIF) – itself worth only $925 billion.