Sunday, September 6, 2015

Saudi Arabia cuts spending to compensate for low oil; A 21-year-old building India's largest hotel network; South Africa's 99,000 pregnant schoolchildren

1 Saudi Arabia cuts spending to compensate for low oil (Khaleej Times) Saudi Arabia's government is cutting unnecessary expenses and delaying some projects to compensate for low oil prices, though projects that are important for the economy will go ahead, Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf said.

His comments were the clearest official signal yet that the government was reducing expenditure in some areas as cheap oil slashed its revenues. Alassaf said the world's top oil exporting country was well-prepared to cope with the plunge of crude prices since last year, and that Saudi policymakers were taking it seriously.

The International Monetary Fund and private analysts have calculated Saudi Arabia may run a huge budget deficit of $120 billion or more this year because of cheap oil. Its financial reserves, which total over $600 billion, mean it is in no danger of running out of money for several years.

But the prospect of a long period of low oil prices have started to worry financial markets, with the cost of insuring against the risk of a Saudi sovereign debt default rising. Alassaf did not give details of how he was cutting spending. Last December, the ministry said it would "rationalise" spending on public salaries, but analysts believe outright salary cuts would be too politically sensitive to introduce.

With Saudi Arabia embroiled in a war in Yemen, security spending looks unlikely to be cut. So infrastructure projects may feel the brunt; for example, a plan to build soccer stadiums around the country has been scaled back, a $201 million contract to buy high-speed trains was cancelled, and expansion of an oilfield has been slowed.

In July, Riyadh began issuing sovereign bonds for the first time since 2007 to help cover its budget deficit. Alassaf said the government would continue issuing bonds and might also sell Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to finance specific projects.


2 A 21-year-old building India’s largest hotel network (Kinjal Pandya-Wagh on BBC) One night, 18-year-old Ritesh Agarwal was locked out of his apartment in Delhi. It was an unfortunate minor incident that was to change his life. Forced to check into a hotel he found himself in a situation he had already experienced several times while travelling in India. "The receptionist was sleeping," he says.

"Sockets did not work in the room, mattresses were torn apart, the bathroom was leaking, and at the end they wouldn't let me pay by card. I felt if this was my problem, this had to be a problem for many travellers. Why can't India have a good standard of hotel rooms at a reasonable price?''

Four years later, at the age of 21, Mr Agarwal is now the founder and chief executive of Oyo Rooms - a network of 1,000 hotels operating in 35 cities across India - with monthly revenues of $3.5m (£2.3m) and 1,000 employees. The firm works with unbranded hotels to improve their facilities and train staff, rebrands them with its own name, and from then on takes a percentage of the hotel's revenues.

The owner of the hotel benefits from a higher occupancy rate, thanks to Oyo's branding. And as part of the business, Mr Agarwal has also developed an app, which guests can use to book rooms, get directions to the hotel, and once they have arrived, to use the hotels amenities, for example to order room service.

The firm launched in June 2013 with just $900 (£586; €799) a month, working with one hotel in Gurgaon near Delhi. "I used to be the manager, engineer, receptionist for this one hotel and also deliver stuff in hotel rooms," says Mr Agarwal. "At night I would write codes to develop our app and improve our website. But alongside this I was also building strong teams because I knew I wanted to scale this up. ''

But the only way he could persuade investors that it was a worthwhile idea was to show them just how bad some budget hotels in India were. Now the business has grown, it has become much easier to attract investors, and the firm recently secured $100m from Japan's Softbank.

The journey from college dropout to business owner may appear smooth, but he says starting a business at 17 was not easy. Mr Agarwal says normal things like getting a bank account or hiring staff were more challenging. Plus some people saw his age as a chance to take advantage. Now his ambition shows in his plans for the firm, which Mr Agarwal wants to expand overseas. He hopes to create the world's largest network of hotel rooms.


3 South Africa’s 99,000 pregnant schoolgirls (Johannesburg Times) One pregnant schoolgirl would be deeply concerning. Ninety-nine thousand pregnant schoolgirls is a serious problem. In fact it is a national disaster.

That 271 schoolgirls became pregnant every day in 2013 is a reflection of a complex and flawed social, political and educational system. But parents, educators and the children themselves must now take full responsibility for the situation and help prevent pregnancies. They need to work together to educate children.

The City Press newspaper reported the latest Stats SA figures on schools showing that, after a steady decline in the late '90s and early 2000s, there has been an increase in the number of school pregnancies in the past few years. From 68 000 in 2011, there were 99 000 in 2013. The reasons for this increase are not clear - what is clear is that the problem requires immediate attention.

Children who are old enough to fall pregnant and who experiment with their sexuality are not aware of the consequences of sex. Nor are they aware of the effects on their young lives of raising a child. This is the direct consequence of a lack of information.

To prevent further pregnancies, the sex education offered at schools must be reviewed immediately. Children should be taught about the health risks and biological consequences of unprotected sex, and about the social implications of pregnancy. Parents and guardians should be encouraged and supported to talk frankly about sex.


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