Saudi Arabia's Budget Has 49.2 Billion Dollars Deficit in 9 Months

Saudi Arabia's Budget Has 49.2 Billion Dollars Deficit in 9 Months Saudi Arabia's budget has a deficit of 49.2 billion dollars in 9 months. The decline in the prices of oil, the largest source of income, due to the coronavirus epidemic, reduced the country's revenues by 24 percent in the first 9 months of 2020. Thus, its revenues decreased to 144.4 billion dollars. According to a statement made by the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia, the budget of Saudi Arabia posted a deficit of 49.2 billion dollars (184.11 billion rials) in the first nine months of 2020. However, government expenditures decreased by 3 percent in the first 9 months to 193.6 billion dollars. In the same period of 2019, the budget for Saudi Arabia was recorded as 190.3 billion dollars. It was stated that the shrinkage in the budget was caused by a 33 percent decline in the country's oil revenues annually as a result of the decline in global oil prices. As a result of the measures taken due to the coronavirus epidemic in the country, it was reported that non-oil revenues decreased by 5 percent. It was noted that Saudi Arabia's public debt, which was $ 180.8 billion in the last period of last year, increased by 25 percent in the third quarter of 2020 to $ 226.14 billion. According to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance, Saudi Arabia predicted that its budget deficit would reach 145 billion rials, or about 5.1 percent of GDP, next year. The country had previously predicted that the 2020 budget deficit would reach approximately 300 billion riyals, or 12 percent of GDP.