Aramco Dividends Will Help Saudi Government Avoid Fiscal Deficit

Saudi Aramco raised its dividend, in a move that’s likely to help the kingdom’s government balance its budget this year. The company remains bullish about demand in China, even as the Asian nation saw its imports of oil slump in July. Bloomberg’s Paul Wallace reports on “Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East & Africa.”Source: Bloomberg

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By Paul Wallace

August 8, 2023 at 11:11 AM UTC

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Saudi Aramco’s dividend boost may go a long way toward ensuring the government, its biggest shareholder, posts a fiscal surplus this year, even as the kingdom’s other forms of oil income decline.

The world’s biggest crude company announced a $29.4 billion payout for investors on Monday when it posted second-quarter results. That was an increase of almost $10 billion from the first quarter and was due to the introduction of a “performance-linked” dividend that comes on top of the base quarterly payout of $19.5 billion.