Saudi Arabia cuts Q2 budget deficit by 20%

13/08/2017 Argaam Special

Saudi Arabia has cut the fiscal deficit by 20 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 46.5 billion in Q2 2017, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

 

Deficit stood at SAR 26 billion in the previous quarter, implying a first-half deficit of SAR 72.7 billion, with SAR 308 billion in revenue and SAR 380.7 billion in expenditures.

 

Q2 revenue rose by 6 percent YoY to SAR 163.9 billion. Saudi oil revenue reached SAR 101 billion, a rise of 28 percent YoY, while non-oil revenue came in at SAR 62.9 billion.

 

H1 2017 Revenue (SAR bln)

 

Q1 2017

Q2 2017

H1 2017

Oil Revenue

112.0

101.0

213.0

Non-oil Revenue

32.1

62.9

95.0

Taxes on income, profit and capital gain (including companies and foreign enterprises income taxes)

2.0

7.2

9.2

Taxes on goods and services (including oil products taxes and selective taxes)

5.7

8.1

13.8

Commercial transaction tax (custom duties)

4.5

4.9

9.5

Other taxes (including Zakat)

1.6

10.6

12.2

Other revenue (including SAMA and PIF revenue)

18.3

32.1

50.4

Total

144.1

163.9

308.0

 

Total spending for the same period fell 1 percent YoY to SAR 210.4 billion.

 

The budget deficit was forecast to be SAR 198 billion in 2017, with total revenue at SAR 692 billion and expenditure at SAR 890 billion, Argaam earlier reported.

 

H1 2017 Expenditure (SAR bln)

Expenditure

Q1 2017

Q2 2017

H1 2017

Employee Compensation

94.1

102.8

196.9

Goods and services

16.7

27.2

43.9

Financing charges

1.3

3.0

4.3

Subsidies

0.1

1.1

1.2

Grants

0.6

0.6

1.2

Social benefits

6.6

16.6

23.2

Other expenditures

21.9

25.8

47.7

Non-financial assets (Capital)

29.1

33.3

62.3

Total

170.3

210.4

380.7

 

About 46 percent of H1 expenditure was allocated for key sectors such as education, health and social development, and municipal services, the finance ministry added.

 

Elsewhere, total public debt increased to SAR 341.4 billion in the first half of the year, compared to SAR 316.5 billion in H1 2016, due to sukuk issues. 

 

Public debt (SAR bln)

Year

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

H1 2017

Value

135.5

83.8

60.1

44.3

142

316.5

341.4

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