Saudi Arabia posts SAR 41.7 bln budget deficit in H1

Saudi Arabia has reported budget deficit of SAR 41.69 billion in H1 2018, revenues stood at SAR 439.85 billion while expenses reached SAR 481.54 billion, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

The Kingdom’s public debt rose to SAR 536.95 billion in the first half, compared to SAR 443.3 billion at the end of 2017.

The second-quarter revenue jumped 67 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 273.59 billion.

Non-oil revenue reached SAR 89.4 billion in Q2 2018, while oil revenue hit SAR 184.2 billion, an 82 percent surge YoY.

Q2 expenses increased by 34 percent YoY to SAR 280.95 billion, so that the budget deficit in the three-month period reached SAR 7.3 billion.

Saudi Arabia reported budget deficit of SAR 34.3 billion in Q1 2018, while the first-quarter revenue rose 15 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 166.3 billion.

Expenditures grew by 18 percent YoY to SAR 200.6 billion in the same period.

The 2018 budget estimated revenue at SAR 783 billion and public spending at SAR 978 billion, with a projected deficit of SAR 195 billion.