Oil prices drive Saudi quarterly budget to record first surplus in 6 years

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia recorded its highest quarterly budget surplus in six years during the first quarter of 2022, amounting to SR57.5 billion ($15.3 billion), the Ministry of Finance announced on Sunday. 

The surplus is attributed to the rising oil prices.

Revenues reached SR278 billion while expenses worth SR220 billion were recorded during the period.  

According to the Finance Ministry report, the Kingdom’s non-oil revenues reached SR94.26 billion.

This is the highest quarterly surplus since the ministry began announcing the budget on a quarterly basis since the beginning of 2016. 

The Kingdom’s public debt rose to SR 958.64 billion in the first quarter, from SR 938 billion in the same quarter last year while public spending amounted to SR22.46 billion, the ministry said. 

Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded by a robust 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q1, which translates into year-on-year growth of 9.6 percent, the fastest rate since 2011.

This expansion resulted from a rise in output from all sectors, but was mainly driven by a sharp rise in the oil sector which grew 2.9 percent over the quarters, reported the General Authority for Statistics.

Oil production in the Kingdom was 10.3 million bpd in March, which translated into a growth of 26.7 percent year-on-year.