Saudi budget revenue not affected by Aramco’s attacks: Al-Jadaan

Saudi budget’s revenue will not be affected by the terrorist attacks on Aramco facilities, Al Arabiya TV reported, citing the Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan.

“Crude output is expected to grow 2.9 to 3 percent this year,” Al-Jadaan said, adding that gross expenditure growth reached 6.3 percent during H1 2019, while non-oil revenue rose 14.4 percent during the same period.

“I don’t expect value-added tax (VAT) to be elevated in 2020 and we should coordinate with the Gulf Cooperation Council in this regard”, he said on the sidelines of the Euromoney Saudi Arabia 2019.

He also added that the attacks will not have any financial or economic impact.

The finance minister predicted that the budget figures by the end of the year will be very close to what was announced at the beginning of this fiscal year and does not expect a big increase in the deficit.

“The government is disciplined in financial spending and raising the efficiency of spending. Non-oil revenue rose by 14 percent in the first half as announced and is expected to continue at the same rate until the end of the year,” he added.

When talking about Aramco’s IPO and whether the selling proceeds will be within FY 2019 budget if the IPO took place before year-end, Al-Jadaan stated that it has been previously disclosed that the IPO proceeds will go to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to be invested in various fields within and outside the Kingdom.