Dubai: Saudi Arabia has approved its 2021 general budget, with revenues amounting to SR849 billion, while expenditures are estimated at SR990 billion, with a deficit of SR141 billion.
The general budget was announced by King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz during the virtual Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The 2021 budget deficit is estimated at 4.9 per cent of the Kingdom’s GDP, King Salman said.
The actual spending in the 2020 budget amounted to SR1,068 billion, exceeding preliminary expectations.
King Salman said 2020 was a difficult year in the history of the world given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “We worked to mitigate the fallout of the pandemic and maintain citizens’ jobs. The Saudi vision 2030 has helped in curbing the negative effects on both, our citizens and economy,” King Salman said.
Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said the Public Investment Fund will pump billions in the Saudi economy in the next years. “The fund has become one of the main drivers of economic growth,” Mohammed Bin Salman said.
The Crown Prince said the aim was to reduce deficit to SR141 billion, less than 5 per cent of the GDP.
