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With prices dropping to $50 a barrel, the oil rich economies of Saudi Arabia and other Middle East nations that depend on oil proceeds are faced with the stark reality of economic collapse. Experts say Saudi Arabia could be broke in five years at the rate things are going.

The Saudis are not alone. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain are all facing the same reality. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) states that the collective budget between these nations is around 13 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Part of the problem is oversupply. According to the US Energy Information Administration, global oil markets were oversupplied by 1.8 million barrels per day in the third quarter of 2015. The United States has added 2.5 million barrels each day over the last two years, bringing a tremendous impact to the global oil economy as well as considerably cheaper prices at the pumps.

The economies of these oil-rich nations that have been extremely lucrative in years past, will need a real boost to avoid a looming slump which the IMF says will plague Persian Gulf nations dependent on oil exports. Masood Ahmed, director of the Middle East IMF, says six countries facing this news are looking at a budget deficit of $700 billion over the next five years. CNN Money quotes Ahmed saying, "Look at the last five years when oil proceeds were going up and the same group of countries were running a budget surplus of over $600 billion. So it is a huge fiscal swing." Without question, the Gulf countries are taking a huge fiscal hit.

The news strikes home for many who view the Saudi regime, a staunch US ally, as an extremely flawed government that constantly violates human rights under international law with bizarre laws that allow public beheadings and Sharia law that strips women of their most basic rights, like being able to drive, or walk down the street without having their body covered by a burqa. The Americans and their western counterparts consistently look the other way when it comes to this highly criticized national behavior of the house of Saud, while choosing to demonize other countries that are not as economically dependent.

Military Conflict Isn't Helping

Saudi Arabia and its allies have been waging a deadly and seemingly fruitless war in Yemen where this Wahabbi government fights Yemenis intent on taking control of this country. Well more than 10 million people have been displaced and directly impacted. The war is causing Saudi Arabia to lose huge amounts of public support and is draining the already strained government coffers of Saudi Arabia. Using controversial weapons such as cluster bombs, the Saudi government has not reached its stated goals and the killing drags on.

Yemen is far from the only problem for Saudi Arabia, which, along with the US, backs terrorists in Syria who are intent on regime change and implementation of radical ideologies closely linked to the Wahhabi sect in Saudi Arabia. In fact, while many fingers point at Saudi Arabia over funding of so called The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the bigger truth is that these terrorists have also been fighting on behalf of the Saudi cause in Yemen, spreading death and destruction everywhere they go.

Experts place the estimated cost of the Saudi led war in Yemen at $175 million a month, but some analysts suggest it could easily be twice that and Saudi Arabia is only one of the participating countries attacking this impoverished country.

As Americans and other westerners begin to put the pieces together, it becomes clear that the military conflicts in Yemen and Syria, Iraq and Libya, which are all taking place through the direct design of the United States and its allies, are not only eliminating human life and leaving the earth stained and scorched with the residue of the weapons of war, they are also causing economic collapse.

Arab Media More Positive

Many outlets are carrying the news about Saudi Arabia's strained economy, but local sources are more positive. Arab News, in an article titled, "Saudi economy is healthier than it has been in decades" writes that it is "far too soon to start writing the Kingdom’s obituary:" The article claims that the Saudi economy is more insulated than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, when a major dip in oil prices led to barrels selling for less than $10 in 1998. The article states that, "Saudi Arabia will not incur a fiscal or currency crisis of any sorts for the next few years."

In spite of the rosy picture painted by Arab friendly media, the truth is that the sale of oil accounts for about 80 percent of the Saudi economy. Foreign assets fell dramatically, to the tune of approximately $82 billion between January and August. The revenue losses are causing the expected domino effect; including project layoffs, according to Press TV. Payment delays from the government are increasing and some companies involved in infrastructure projects are being delayed payments by six months or more.

According to the IMF, these nations that are facing lower revenues, "...have initiated fiscal consolidation, but the measures are unlikely to be adequate for ensuring medium-term fiscal sustainability and intergenerational equity, and rebuilding the necessary buffers to deal with future oil price shocks." The IMF report, "MENAP Oil-Exporting Countries: Grappling with Lower Oil Prices and Conflicts," says it is going to take significant planning, understanding and communication to maintain confidence, "Fiscal pressures also highlight the need for private sector-led growth, job creation, and diversification. The prospective easing of sanctions on Iran is likely to have a mixed effect on other oil exporters in the region, with countries facing possible further declines in oil prices, while benefiting from higher investment and non-oil trade."

The IMF does forecast 4% growth in 2016, but many observers say that is dependent on lifting sanctions on Iran, and ending the raging conflicts overseas which are eliminating secular governments at an alarming rate.