On Thursday, the Saudi Ministry of Finance expected that its budget deficit for the current year would reach 85 billion riyals ($22.7 billion).
According to a statement by the ministry, the budget deficit for next year is expected to reach about 52 billion riyals ($13.9 billion); The expectations of the Kingdom’s budget expenditures for the next year amounted to 995 billion riyals (255 billion dollars).
While the ministry expected that the kingdom’s total revenues for the next year would reach 903 billion riyals ($241 billion).
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and the largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and its economy is highly dependent on oil.
Saudi Arabia had announced the 2021 budget with spending of $264 billion, compared to revenues of $226.4 billion, and an expected deficit of $37.6 billion.
The economies of the Arab Gulf states consider, with great importance, the most prominent budget figures for Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab and Gulf economy.
In a statement today, the ministry expected the public debt to rise to 937 billion riyals ($250 billion) and 989 billion riyals ($263.7 billion), representing 30.2 percent and 31.3 percent of GDP for 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The Saudi public debt amounted to 854 billion riyals ($227.7 billion) at the end of 2020, representing 32.5 percent of GDP.
According to the statement, the Saudi economy is expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2021 and 7.5 in 2022; As well as recording an inflation rate of 3.3 percent this year and 1.3 percent next year.
