Saudi Arabia accrued its sixth consecutive quarterly budget deficit in Q3, bringing the total shortfall over the first nine months of the year to a substantial $49.1bn. At $10.9bn, the Q3 deficit was a more than $2bn year-on-year increase, but the good news is that it was significantly less than the previous quarter’s $29.1bn deficit.
The fiscal improvement was driven by a 60% increase in revenues from Q2 to $57.5bn, the highest quarterly figure since 2Q 2019 – well before the coronavirus tanked oil markets. The Q3 surge was driven by non-oil revenues, which more than tripled to a record $32.8bn. (CONTINUED - 830 WORDS)
