Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The Saudi government, headed by King Salman, announced the general budget for 2021, in the wake of the Kingdom being negatively affected by the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic and the decrease in oil demand, which necessitated the mandate of the Minister of Finance to fill the deficit of 141 billion Saudi riyals. By taking several measures, the first of which is withdrawing from the state’s general reserve account.
Expenditure, revenue and deficit
Approved spending in the new year budget for Saudi Arabia amounted to 990 billion Saudi riyals, revenues were estimated at 849 billion Saudi riyals and the deficit was 141 billion Saudi riyals.
The Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, indicated that the Kingdom aims to reduce the budget deficit from 298 billion Saudi riyals in 2020 to 141 Saudi riyals in 2021.
Reflections of the situation around the world
The Saudi monarch confirmed that the Kingdom was negatively affected by the level of local economic activity by the Corona pandemic, in addition to Saudi Arabia being negatively affected by the global economic recession and the decrease in demand in the oil market, which led to a sharp drop in prices.
King Salman said about this: “The Kingdom is part of the world that affects and is affected by global events and conditions, and has not been isolated from the effects of the crisis on the public finances and the economy,” he said.
The Saudi monarch added, “This was a difficult year in the history of the world, and the health measures, financial and economic initiatives that we took, and the reforms that came with the approval of the Kingdom’s vision (2030) have reduced the negative effects on citizens and residents in the Kingdom and on our economy.” His expression.
Plug
The Saudi government authorized the Minister of Finance to bridge the deficit through several procedures, perhaps most notably the withdrawal from the state’s general reserve account, in addition to giving the minister the power to borrow to finance capital projects whose costs are approved in the budget, in addition to more than ten other items.
