OPEC kingpin is expected to end the current year with a smaller budget deficit than the US$12 billion it forecast thanks to high oil prices, the finance minister said Saturday.
"Financial indicators for the first three quarters of the year show there is an increase in revenues above estimates and a good compliance in expenditures," Ibrahim al-Assaf told reporters.
But Assaf, who was speaking after attending a meeting of Gulf Arab finance ministers, ruled out boasting a surplus in the budget as local economic reports have forecast. "I don't believe there will be a surplus, but we aim at reducing the [budget] deficit this year," Assaf said.
Revenues for this year were projected at 157 billion riyals (US$41.9 billion) and expenditures at 202 billion riyals.
Income from oil, projected at around US$30 billion on the basis of a price of US$16-to-US$17 a barrel, is expected to be much higher as the price of Saudi oil has been hovering above US$25 a barrel since August.
Local economic reports estimated the average price of Saudi crude at US$22 a barrel for the first six months of the year. The price of Saudi oil averaged US$23.10 last year and US$27.60 in 2000.
Riyad Bank estimated that the kingdom generated over US$19 billion in oil revenue, about two-thirds of budget projections, by the end of the first half.
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