Saudi Arabia’s government this week approved an expansionary budget for 2026, in which it expects to run an annual deficit of $44bn. There were no surprises in the budget, which tracks the pre-budget announcement from October, with spending of $350.1bn easily outstripping revenues of $305.9bn (MEES, 3 October).

This year has proven to be a challenging one for Riyadh’s finances, with the budget deficit surging by $34.5bn to a five-year high of $65.3bn, preliminary Ministry of Finance figures show (see table). This is more than double the originally budgeted figure of $26.9bn. (CONTINUED - 600 WORDS)

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