Saudi Arabia secured its first budget surplus in nine years in 2022, with latest Ministry of Finance figures confirming that Riyadh’s finances were in the black to the tune of $27.7bn for the year as a whole. The figure is a slight upwards revision on the government’s projected $27.2bn surplus forecast in December (MEES, 9 December 2022).
The huge swing from 2021’s $19.6bn deficit was driven by the spike in oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which enabled a 53% year-on-year increase in oil revenues. Oil’s share of total revenues increased from 58.2% to 67.6% as a result (see table). (CONTINUED - 614 WORDS)
