Economics
Saudi Arabia to Cut Spending as Private Sector Growth Picks Up
- Budget deficit seen rising from 4.7% this year to 6.5% in 2020
- Spending to reduce each year until 2022, finance minister says
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Saudi Arabia plans to gradually reduce government spending as private-sector growth picks up and businesses take the lead, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Thursday.
Spending is expected to fall from about 1.05 trillion riyals ($280 billion) this year to 1.02 trillion riyals in 2020, then to 955 billion riyals by 2022, according to a pre-budget statement issued by the Finance Ministry on Thursday.