The Ministry of Finance revealed the key highlights of the Kingdom’s budget for the third quarter of 2021, with revenues totaling 243.38 billion riyals, while expenditures totaled approximately 236.7 billion riyals, resulting in a surplus of 6.68 billion riyals—the first quarterly surplus since the first quarter of 2019—indicating that the economy has recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Budget deficit narrows to 5.4 billion riyals

The Kingdom’s actual budget revenue for the first nine months of 2021 amounted to approximately 696.2 billion riyals, while expenditures totaled 701.6 billion riyals, resulting in a deficit of about 5.4 billion riyals. Oil revenues in the third quarter grew by 60% year-over-year and by 12% compared to the second quarter. The Ministry of Finance stated that neither the current account nor government reserves have been tapped to finance the deficit since the beginning of 2021, and that the Saudi budget deficit has narrowed to 5.4 billion riyals since the start of 2021, The Kingdom’s oil revenues totaled 147.9 billion riyals in the third quarter, while total budget revenues in the third quarter grew by 13% year-over-year.

Second-Quarter Budget Figures

Saudi budget revenues in the second quarter of 2021 totaled 248 billion riyals, compared to expenditures of 252.7 billion riyals, resulting in a quarterly budget deficit of 4.6 billion riyals. Non-oil revenues grew by 31% to 116 billion riyals in the second quarter, while oil revenues in the second quarter of 2021 grew by 13% to 132 billion riyals.

Riyal 51 billion in financing for the first half

The deficit stood at 12 billion riyals for the first half of 2021, while revenue in the second quarter grew by 85% year-over-year, Saudi budget figures showed an increase in the Kingdom’s health spending of 20% in the first half of 2021. Total financing in the second quarter amounted to 21.5 billion riyals, while financing for the first half totaled 51 billion riyals.