Confronting the lowest oil prices in five years, Saudi Arabia sees a wider budget deficit next year. The country expects it to
widen to 145 billion riyals ($39 billion) in 2015.
According to the Finance Ministry statement, revenue will drop to 715 billion riyals, from 1.046 trillion riyals in 2014, while projected expenditure was set at 860 billion riyals. Expenditure in 2014 is estimated to have been 1.1 trillion riyals, 29 percent higher than the target announced a year ago. The Riyadh-based ministry specified the budget deficit for 2014 is estimated at 54 billion riyals.
The budget was prepared “during challenging international economic and financial circumstances,” . While the government will press ahead with investments in sectors such as education and health care, it will “exert more effort to limit current spending, especially wages,” which make up about 50 percent of spending approved in the budget, the ministry said, cited by Bloomberg.
A record amount of money has been allocated by King Abdullah
to build roads, industrial centers and airports as he seeks to lower the country’s oil dependency and to fight joblessness of
12 percent.
Government spending has been driven by crude prices
averaging above $107 a barrel since the end of 2011. Oil is now
trading at nearly half that level, having slumped to its lowest
since 2009.
Photo: Pri.org
