Saudi Arabia's Budget Deficit Narrows as Crude Revenue Rises - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia's Budget Deficit Narrows as Crude Revenue Rises - Bloomberg:

"Saudi Arabia’s second-quarter budget gap narrowed to 46.5 billion riyals ($12.4 billion) from the same period last year after income from oil advanced, while non-oil revenue fell.

Total revenue climbed 6 percent in the second quarter to 163.9 billion riyals after income from crude jumped 28 percent, the finance ministry said in a statement. That helped narrow the deficit from 58.4 billion riyals in the same period last year, even though revenue from non-oil sources fell by 17 percent. Spending dropped 1.3 percent, to 210.4 billion riyals.

“It’s really a story of stronger oil revenue and ongoing fiscal restraint,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “Much of the narrowing in the deficit seen in the first half of 2017 is due to higher oil revenue, versus in 2016,”"



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