Saudi Arabia: Q1 total revenues SR 144,076 billion, up 72%

Minister of Finance Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Jadaan has announced the issuance of the quarterly report on the performance of the State's general budget for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2017.
This came during a press conference in which he indicated that the data of the first quarter report reflected a rise in revenues, a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of spending and reducing the deficit while basic services provided for citizens have topped priorities on the list of the governmental spending, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The Minister of Finance said: "This step applied for the first time in the history of the Ministry comes within the framework of the Government's commitment to transparency and financial disclosure as it continues to implement the initiatives of National Transformation Program within the Kingdom's ambitious Vision 2030."
Al Jadaan pointed out that the quarterly report highlighted the most prominent financial indicators for the performance of the general budget of the State for the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, indicating that total revenues for the first quarter amounted to SR 144,076 billion, an increase by 72% compared with the same period of last year, as non-oil revenues for the first quarter amounted to SR 32 billion, an increase of 1% compared with the same quarter of last year.
He noted that oil revenues increased during the first quarter to reach SR 112 billion with a growth rate of 115% compared with the same quarter of the previous year, driven by improved oil prices in international markets.
Total expenditures for the first quarter amounted to SR 170,287 billion, down by 3% compared with the same quarter of last year and the education sector has the largest percentage of the approved budget compared with other sectors with 23% of the total estimated budget.
The minister pointed out that 46% of the expenditures were allocated during the first quarter to basic sectors such as education, health, social development and municipal services; noting that the actual expenditures during the first quarter were 19% of the total estimated budget during the year.
Al Jadaan said that deficit in the first quarter amounted to SR 26.211 billion, a decrease by 71% compared to the deficit of the same period last year.
He affirmed that the trend to issue quarterly reports on the performance of the state's budget reflects serious efforts to enhance transparency and financial disclosure.
He noted that the quarterly report on the first quarter, which contains better indicators than the initial estimates, shows the remarkable progress achieved in our efforts towards achieving a balanced budget.
He also stressed that the package of economic reforms adopted by the government in the fiscal balance program has helped to generate new revenues and diversify sources of income, saying that these policies have played an important role in activating policies of the spending efficiency and arranging citizens' priorities and needs and basic services being provided for them.
Al Jadaan also pointed out that the kingdom is firmly on the right track towards building a solid economy, more stable and diversified, and less affected by the fluctuations of global markets, especially in the oil sector.
"We continue to work on the issuance of periodic reports to publicize the progress we are achieving and shed light on the exerted efforts to implement measures and procedures that can make a quantum leap in social and economic aspects,” he said.

Source: BNA