DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry removed fiscal data from a monthly bulletin published earlier on Monday on its website that showed the Kingdom would record a budget surplus in 2023, according to Reuters.
There was no fiscal data in an updated version of the report on the website.
A government official told Reuters that the numbers published earlier were not based on the latest 2023 fiscal data forecasts calculated by the finance ministry and were published in error.
The investment ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on why the data was removed.
Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry in December forecast a budget deficit of SR82 billion ($22 billion) for last year as lower crude production and prices weighed on public finances.
The Kingdom ran a deficit of SR44 billion in the nine months to Sept. 30.
Saudi Arabia in December also estimated total revenues for 2023 at SR1.193 trillion despite extended voluntary oil production cuts of 1 million barrels per day for much of last year and total expenditure of SR1.275 trillion.
The January update from the ministry had showed that Saudi Arabia recorded an estimated budget surplus of SR16 billion in 2023 and a large surplus in the fourth quarter before it was taken down.
