Saudi cabinet approves highest budget in history

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet has approved on Monday the new budget for the year 2010 with an increase of 14 per cent compared to the previous year, reported the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The approved budget of SR540 billion is the highest in the kingdom’s history

The government expects that the revenue will stand at SR470 billion, with a deficit of SR70 billion.

The new budget focuses on developing the infrastructure and vital sectors such as health and education, with the latter receiving about 25 per cent of the total budget. Accordingly, SR137.6 billion was allocated for education sector, SR61.2 billion for the health sector, 21.7 billion for the municipal sector, and 23.9 billion for transport sector.

The government justified the increase in the budget due to the decrease in oil prices and the global economic crisis. It also stressed on the need to continue with developmental projects that will ensure the creation of jobs across various sectors. Hence, a total of SR260 billion is allocated for new projects – a high increase compared to previous allocations.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, who chaired the cabinet meeting, stressed on the importance of completing all pending projects, pointing that some have not been on track.