Saudi Arabia's budget stands at $ 9.1 billion in the first quarter of 2018

Saudi Arabia’s budget recorded a fiscal deficit of 34.3 billion riyals ($ 9.15 billion) in the first quarter of this year, reports Anadolu Agency.

Saudi Arabia’s revenues in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to 166.3 billion riyals ($ 44.3 billion), compared to expenses of 200.6 billion riyals ($ 53.5 billion), according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

Saudi Arabia (OPEC’s largest oil producer) has been hit by a steady decline in crude oil prices, compared with 2014 levels, from $ 120 a barrel to $ 75.

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As a result of these declines, the Saudi budget recorded a deficit for four consecutive years, amounting to 17 billion dollars in 2014, then rose to a peak in 2015 to 97 billion dollars, then 79 billion dollars in 2016, and 61.3 in 2017.

The government expects a new deficit of $ 52 billion this year.