Pushing back work on The Line back until after 2030, and also significantly redesigning its twin mirrored skyscrapers, is part of efforts to make NEOM less costly to develop. However, it’s unclear when the redesign will be completed or when the project would get any new funding allocated to it, the people said.
Postponing development of one of the kingdom’s most iconic projects is the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is taking a more pragmatic view of its ambitions. Earlier in May, Public Investment Fund said it will stop funding LIV Golf after putting $5 billion into trying to make the breakaway league sustainable, and a few months earlier, plans to build a giant cube in Riyadh, known as the Mukaab, were also put on hold.
Widening budget deficits, lower-than-expected foreign investment, and questions about the feasibility of some of the PIF’s projects forced authorities to reassess priorities even before the Iran war hit economic confidence.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said last year that the government isn’t concerned with “ego” when it comes to making decisions about projects. “If we announce something and we need to adjust it, accelerate it and make it a priority more than others, or defer or cancel it, we will without blinking,” he said.
