Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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the royal family, old-fashioned dispensing of the King's purse reflected the
administration's early stages of callow development. This approach proved insufficient to
run a modern nation. Peter Mansfield noted, "Although oil income was rising steadily,
Saudi Arabia fell heavily into debt, and Aramco stopped giving advances on future
revenues." 50
The reign of King Saud, which was marked with wasteful spending,
witnessed little increase in spending on roads, schools and hospitals. But it was not until
March 25,1958 when Crown Prince Faisal assumed vast powers leaving titular authority
to his elder brother, King Saud. It was then when more resources found their way to more
people. However, the bureaucracy was to grow haphazardly since the days when King
Abdul-Aziz himself oversaw the entire administration.
Through its short experience of development, the Saudi polity came to recognize the
significance of planned development to maximize the utilization of national, material
resources and manpower. In 1963 the new Supreme Planning Board was established. But
it was not until 1969 that the Cabinet of Minsters authorized the establishment of Central
Planning Organization. By the late 1960s, King Faisal's reforms were to culminate in the
shift to long-term national planning and policy making as early as 1966. To many
observers, Faisal's sagacious brilliance is rare. 51 He was acclaimed for his success in
leading the "country with gentle insistence from medievalism into the jet age." In one of
his speeches he outlined the future course of comprehensive planning. He announced:
We are going ahead with extensive planning, guided by our Islamic
laws and belief, for the progress of the nation...We have chosen an
economic system based on free enterprise because it is our
conviction that it fits perfectly with our Islamic laws and suits our
country by granting every opportunity to the people giving
incentives to every individual and every group to work for the
common group. This does not mean leaving everything unchecked,
for we will interfere when the Government finds it necessary to do
so, but without harming the basic principles involved and in order to
correct any errors that may have occurred and secure social
justice. 52
For the first time, the government formulated objectives, goals and policies and
emphasized coordination between the various public agencies to attain desirable
development targets in the various sectors of the economy. In 1970, the government
introduced the first of its five-year plans, a document outlining the course of government
investment and allocation by economic sector during the five year period the plan covers.