Dubai: Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, projected a budget deficit of SR145 billion in 2015 due to falling oil prices, even as they budgeted higher spending.
Revenues are expected to drop to SR715 billion in 2015, from SR855 billion in 2014; despite this, the ministry of finance said, spending is projected to rise to SR860 billion in 2015 as against SR855 billion in 2014.
The budget was prepared “during challenging international economic and financial circumstances,” the ministry said.
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.
Crude oil prices has fallen by almost a half to about $60 a barrel after the producer group Opec decided to keep their output steady amid slumping demand, which analysts said could potentially impact budgets in the oil-dependent economies.
