Saudi Arabia Is Burning Through Its Foreign Reserves at a Record Pace

``The kingdom spent $36 billion of the central bank's net foreign assets -- about 5 percent of the total -- in February and March, the biggest two-month drop on record, data released this week show. The fall was in part due to King Salman's order to give government employees and pensioners a two-month bonus after he ascended to the throne of the world's biggest oil exporter in January... Saudi Arabia's desire to play a larger role in the region means it's likely to continue spending, Ibrahim Sharqieh Frehat, a professor of conflict resolution at Georgetown University in Qatar, said by phone.''