Saudi Arabia's Cabinet Approves State's General Budget For Fiscal Year 2025

Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chaired the Cabinet session on Tuesday in Riyadh to approve the state's general budget for the fiscal year 2025. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance announced the Budget Statement, estimating total expenditures of SAR1,285 billion and total revenues of SAR1,184 billion. The estimates indicate a deficit of SAR101 billion, which represents about 2.3% of GDP.

The Saudi Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, noted that the government aims to expand strategic spending through the 2025 budget on development projects in line with sectoral strategies and Saudi Vision 2030 programs. The government also confirmed its commitment to delivering programs and projects with sustainable economic, social, and environmental returns. Minister Al-Jadaan emphasized that the economic and fiscal reforms in the Saudi economy have improved fiscal and economic indicators, marking an important stage in the process of economic diversification and financial stability. 

Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan also noted that preliminary forecasts for 2024 indicate the increasing role of non-oil activities in enhancing the growth of total real GDP, which is a result of continuous initiatives and reforms aimed at increasing the private sector's contribution to GDP and enabling it to become the main engine of economic growth.