Aramco may have to sell assets, borrow more to maintain #Saudi dividend | Reuters

Aramco may have to sell assets, borrow more to maintain Saudi dividend | Reuters

Oil giant Aramco, whose dividend remains vital to helping Saudi Arabia contain a huge deficit, may have to sell assets and borrow more to fulfil its fiscal role amid uncertainty in oil prices, market specialists said.

While Saudi Arabia has increased non-oil revenues this year, Aramco still accounted for more than half its total income, and will be key to containing a budget shortfall this year forecast at 298 billion riyals ($79.4 billion), or 12% of GDP.

Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, listed in 2019 in a record $29.4 billion share sale, but the government still owns 98.2% of the group.

Though its profits plummeted this year as oil prices tumbled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is sticking to a promised $75 billion annual dividend that will go almost entirely to the government.

While it is not obliged to maintain such a high payout, economists expect the firm to continue to offer the same support to state coffers next year.