Saudi Arabia posts SR34 billion deficit in Q1 2020

Saudi Arabia's budget deficit in the first quarter of 2020 stood at SR34.107 billion ($9.07 billion), according to a report released by the finance ministry early Wednesday.

According to the figures in the report, the Kingdom recorded total revenues worth SR192.072 billion ($51.219 billion) in the first quarter, down 22 percent from the same period last year while its expenditures reached SR226,179 ($60.314 billion).

According to the report, oil revenues dropped 24 percent in Q1 2020 to SR128.771 billion while non-oil revenues fell 17 percent during the first quarter of this year to SR63.3 billion.

Saudi Arabia’s expenditure on subsidies in the first quarter of 2020 reached SR3.48 billion riyals, registering a decline of 66 percent from SR10.31 billion last a year ago, the report said.

“This quarterly report is published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to provide detailed fiscal data covering performance during the specified quarter including revenues, expenditures, it’s funding sources, and the change in public debt.

Through the periodical publication of this report, budget deficit, MoF seeks to enhance transparency in accordance with financial disclosure standards,” the Ministry of Finance said in the introductory of its report.

“It should be noted that fiscal accounts as presented in this report are based on cash basis of accounting and are classified according to the Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM 2014), published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” it added.

Source: Saudi Gazette report