#SaudiArabia to cut spending next year, sees economy bouncing back | Reuters

Saudi Arabia to cut spending next year, sees economy bouncing back | Reuters:

Saudi Arabia plans to cut spending by 7.5% in next year’s budget to 990 billion riyals ($263.94 billion) from this year’s 1.07 trillion riyals ($285.27 billion), according to a preliminary budget statement published on Wednesday.

But despite a significant drop in revenue this year and a slowdown in economic activity, it expects the economy to bounce back to growth next year as it improves its management of the coronavirus crisis.

The retrenchment in spending comes as the world’s largest oil exporter faces an economic contraction caused by the pandemic, a drop in oil prices, and crude production cuts.

For next year, the government “seeks to preserve the fiscal and economic gains achieved in recent years and to achieve the goals of stability, fiscal discipline, and spending efficiency,” the ministry of finance said in the statement.