The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to cut spending in its budget for the current year by less than 5 percent, as part of a plan to reduce government institutions ’spending by 20 percent.
This reduction comes in light of the significant decline in oil export revenues due to the collapse of prices to their lowest levels in 18 years, against the backdrop of measures to contain the emerging Corona virus and the oil price war between Riyadh and Moscow.
Saudi Arabia is preparing for a difficult stage on the economic level, after it suspended the performance of Umrah, closed the commercial centers and suspended flights in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus in its regions, especially in light of the decline in oil prices.
In this regard, Finance Minister Mohamed Al-Jadaan emphasized that "in light of the availability of appropriate flexibility to take measures and measures in the face of emergency shocks, the government has approved a partial reduction in some items with a less social and economic impact."
He stressed that "the size of the partial reduction in those items amounted to approximately 50 billion riyals (13.3 billion dollars), which represents less than 5 percent of the total expenditures approved in the budget for the year 2020."
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
