Ambitious Saudi reforms may not avert looming economic slump

By Andrew Torchia and Marwa Rashad RIYADH (Reuters) - At a three-day conference in Riyadh this week, hundreds of Saudi Arabian officials and businessmen discussed ways to rescue the economy from low oil prices, by developing new industries and giving opportunities to the private sector. As cheap oil pressures its currency and opens up a record state budget deficit of around $100 billion, Saudi Arabia - assisted by a small army of Western consultants who are believed to number in the hundreds - i