Financial Risk:

Critical

Score:

13/100

Asset Disposals

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Q24 8/100

How effective are controls over the disposal of assets, and is information on these disposals, and the proceeds of their sale, transparent?

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Controls Score: 25 / 100
According to our resources, the MoD has a formalized process of asset disposal; hower, this process lack clarity, and consistency (1), (2). There is…
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Transparency of disposal process Score: 0 / 100
There is no transparency in the asset disposal process in Saudi Arabia as the government does not publish any relevant information on this process.…
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Transparency of financial results of disposals Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the financial outcomes of the disposal process are not made public, but certain sections of the financial unit are aware…
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Q25 0/100

Is independent and transparent scrutiny of asset disposals conducted by defence establishments, and are the reports of such scrutiny publicly available?

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Scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there is a defined process of scrutiny by an internal unit, but the process in itself is superficial (1). The…
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Independence Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator is Not Applicable because asset disposals only superficially scrutinised by an oversight body. The internal unit that is responsible for oversight and…
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Transparency Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator is Not Applicable because asset disposals only superficially scrutinised by an oversight body. Although there are some internal reports which are produced,…
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Secret Budgets

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Q26 0/100

What percentage of defence and security expenditure in the budget year is dedicated to spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services?

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Score: 0 / 100
In December 2017, the Saudi Ministry of Finance for the first time provided limited details on defence spending, stating that the government would spend…
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Q27 0/100

Is the legislature (or the appropriate legislative committee or members of the legislature) given full information for the budget year on the spending of all secret items relating to national security and military intelligence?

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Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the Consultative Council’s Committee on Security Affairs is not given any information relating to spending on secret items for national…
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Q28 0/100

Are audit reports of the annual accounts of the security sector (the military and intelligence services) subject to parliamentary debate?

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Comprehensiveness Score: 0 / 100
The General Auditing Bureau (GAB) is responsible for auditing the state’s revenues, expenditures and assets, and technically has purview over all ministries and government…
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Parliamentary scrutiny Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator is marked as Not Applicable because secret programmes are not audited. The GAB submits its annual report to the king and the…
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Q29 8/100

In law, are off-budget military expenditures permitted, and if so, are they exceptional occurrences that are well-controlled? In practice, are there any off-budget military expenditures? If so, does evidence suggest this involves illicit economic activity?

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Permitted exceptions Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, off-budget expenditure is norms in the Saudi military. The crown prince has issued many decrees for military purchases that are…
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Recording mechanisms Score: 0 / 100
There is no reference to off-budget military expenditures in the Saudi budget, which itself provides limited details relating to defence and military spending. This…
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Prevalence Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources in KSA, off-budget expenditure is not prevalent in small and medium purchases. Rather, they are used in strategic and politically-motivated…
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Q30 0/100

Are mechanisms for accessing information from the defence sector effective?

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Legal framework Score: 0 / 100
Saudi law, in general, does not provide for public access to government information (1). There is nothing in the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia,…
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Classification of information Score: NS / 100
This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. There is no evidence to suggest that the Saudi government has a legal framework…
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Effectiveness Score: 0 / 100
According to our resources, there are no known or published examples of a member of the public requesting information from the defence sector and…
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Q31 50/100

Do national defence and security institutions have beneficial ownership of commercial businesses? If so, how transparent are details of the operations and finances of such businesses?

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Extent of commercial ventures Score: 50 / 100
There are several companies owned or linked to the Saudi military, including Military Industries Company (MIC), which is under the purview of the Saudi…
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Transparency Score: 50 / 100
According to our sources, all businesses that have links to the military are declared to the public; however, there is a lack of details…
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Military-owned Businesses

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Q32 0/100

Are military-owned businesses subject to transparent independent scrutiny at a recognised international standard?

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Independent scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, such industries are not controlled directly by MoD, even though they are mentioned to be under the purview of the…
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Transparency Score: 0 / 100
As stated above, there are no financial auditing procedures in place for Saudi military-owned and linked companies; there are no reports which are available…
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Illegal Private Enterprise

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Q33 75/100

Is there evidence of unauthorised private enterprise by military or other defence ministry employees? If so, what is the government’s reaction to such enterprise?

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Prohibition Score: 50 / 100
Article 14 of the Saudi Civil Code prohibits government employees from working in the private sector, and from engaging in specific commercial activities, such…
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Prevalence Score: 100 / 100
According to our sources, no unauthorized enterprises are operating in KSA. All enterprises are authorized by the law or by royal decree (1). In…
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Actual Military Spending

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Q77 0/100

Is comprehensive data on actual spending on defence published during the budget year?

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Proactive publication Score: 0 / 100
The Saudi government has never published reports on actual defence spending, only minimal details on projected defence budgets.
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Comprehensiveness Score: NA / 100
As Saudi Arabia does not publish figures on actual defence spend, this sub-indicator is marked not applicable.
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Timeliness Score: NA / 100
As Saudi Arabia does not publish figures on actual defence spend, this sub-indicator is marked not applicable.
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Comparison against budget Score: NA / 100
As Saudi Arabia does not publish figures on actual defence spend, this sub-indicator is marked not applicable.
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