Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, forecast a budget surplus of 12 billion riyals ($3.2 billion) next year as the kingdom boosts planned spending while investing to create jobs.
The government expects to spend 690 billion riyals, 19 percent above its target for this year and below actual spending of 804 billion riyals, the Riyadh-based Finance Ministry said on its website today. Total revenue next year is projected at 702 billion riyals, above last year’s target of 540 billion riyal and below this year’s actual revenue of 1.11 trillion riyals.
King Abdullah announced a $130 billion spending plan in the first quarter to build homes and combat unemployment of 10 percent. The program comes amid concerns that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will hurt global growth and amid a wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East, triggered in part by unemployment.
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