Saudi Arabia has appointed a financial advisor for its plans to privatise construction and management of school buildings, as it seeks to cut state spending amidst low oil prices. According to economic reform plans announced last year, the government will spend SAR11mn to encourage the private sector to invest in public education, in addition to SAR240mn to attract private investment in school construction. State-owned firm, Tatweer Building Co., is expected to start offering public-private partnerships for educational buildings in 2017, worth more than SAR45bn, including 20-30-year build-maintain-transfer arrangements for public school construction, and 15-20-year lease-leaseback contracts for buildings. The government also aims to increase the percentage of students in private universities to 15% from 6% by 2020, another major cost-cutting initiative as public education is free of charge in the Kingdom. (Reuters)