Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's general budget recorded a deficit of $9.86 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Ministry of Finance reported. The total revenues for the period amounted to $95.45 billion, while total expenses reached about $105.32 billion. This reflects a slight increase in the deficit...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The total public expenditure of Arab countries combined jumped by 9.8% to $957.5 billion in 2022, compared to $878.9 billion in 2021, according to the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). AMF, in its Joint Arab Economic Report, explained that current expenditure in Arab countries increased by about 9.9% to...

The parliament ratified by a huge majority of 92 votes out of 133 an amendment to an article that prohibited the central bank from financing the public treasury. The new measure allows the central bank to lend the state US$2.2 billion to be repaid without interest in 10 years after...

Sharjah, UAE - The Sharjah Consultative Council approved the draft law regarding the budget of departments and entities of the Sharjah government for the fiscal year 2024 during its second meeting, local media reports said. The meeting was held Thursday at its headquarters in Sharjah as part of its first...

NEW YORK, US - The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) approved a US$3.59 billion budget for 2024, including establishing a private account related to funding by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF). In a statement late on Sunday, UNGA approved around US$50 million as an additional funding for UN Human...

Doha, Qatar-- Inflation in Qatar is expected to fall in 2024, according to Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, the Minister of Finance. In a press conference on Thursday, the minister said that the inflation witnessed in Qatar in 2023 was temporary and associated with a specific period and reasons, such...

Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari attributed the decrease in revenues to the adoption of an average oil price of $60 per barrel for 2024 instead of $65 per barrel in 2023, based on the international institutions estimates for oil prices in 2024, and the conservative estimates for oil...

Muscat, Oman -- Oman's revenues for the nine-month period of 2023 declined 17 percent to 9.8 billion riyals ($25.45 billion), compared to 11.86 billion riyals for the same period in 2022. The financial performance bulletin issued by the Omani Ministry of Finance today indicated that the net oil revenues until...

The announcement comes one year after the Gulf kingdom, the world's biggest crude exporter and the Middle East's largest economy, recorded its first budget surplus in nearly a decade in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine which led to a boom in oil prices.

Dubai, UAE - Dubai government's general budget for the fiscal cycle of 2024-2026 includes total expenditures of $67.16 billion (AED 246.6 billion), reflecting the emirate's commitment to stimulate economic recovery and growth. A total of 34% of total government expenditures of the 2024 budget goes to the social development sector...

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who chaired a meeting of the cabinet where the budget was approved, said that during 2024, the development and social benefits sector will receive 42 percent, government affairs 39 percent and the remainder will be channeled to enhance the infrastructure and...

The kingdom's finance ministry estimated expenditures for 2024 to be at US$333.5 billion. According to the ministry, the projection is based on the government's fiscal objectives to expand strategic spending at the sectoral and regional levels, broaden and diversify the economic base, as well as improve public services, among others.

A government shutdown would put the finances of hundreds of thousands of workers at federal parks, museums, and other sites at risk, but it could also carry significant political costs for Biden, who is running for re-election. The White House wants any budget bill passed by lawmakers to include $24...

DOHA, QATAR - The Ministry of Finance announced that the budget of Qatar for the second quarter of the year 2023 recorded a surplus of US$2.7 billion (QR 10 billion). In its briefing on the actual data of Qatar's budget in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, the ministry said...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Arabia posted a budget deficit of SAR5.3 billion ($1.41 billion) in the second quarter of 2023, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, recorded a budget surplus of almost $30 billion in 2022 as the high prices of the...

Kuwait recorded its first surplus in nine years for the 2022-2023 fiscal year which ended in March, the finance ministry said, crediting last year's surge in oil prices. The Gulf emirate, whose revenues rely heavily on hydrocarbons, closed its fiscal balance with a surplus of $21 billion, the ministry said.

Lower oil prices and volumes attributed to the estimated deficit, according to a newspaper report. MP Osama Al-Zaid said the draft budget estimates oil revenues of 17 billion dinars, a 19.5 percent decrease from the previous budget.

ABU DHABI, UAE -  The Central Bank of the UAE's (CBUAE) balance sheet grew by 6.3 percent on a monthly basis to reach US$172 billion (AED631.63 billion) at the end of April 2023, marking the largest level ever in its history, the apex bank said in its budget report for...

The new bill earmarked 12.7 percent of the budget to the oil-rich autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. It follows long-standing tensions with Kurdish leaders who had previously denounced amendments relating to oil in the budget, resulting in repeated delays to the vote.

Iraq's supreme court ruled as unconstitutional the extended mandate of autonomous Kurdistan's parliament, rendering invalid votes taken by the chamber since last year. It is the latest source of tension between Iraq's federal authorities and Kurdistan whose leaders had denounced amendments in the federal budget affecting oil sales from the...

In a country where political agreements are concluded after endless negotiations between political parties, the objection of the Kurds is delaying a parliamentary vote on the budget. The changes in budget text says the Kurdish region must first deliver 400,000 barrels of oil daily to the federal authorities, along with...

The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent recent weeks cutting deals with his ultra-Orthodox and extreme-right coalition partners, to meet a May 29 deadline to pass the budget or face fresh elections. Earlier this week, he said the state would grant married ultra-Orthodox Jewish men engaged in religious study rather than...

The internet titan is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly earnings figures next week. A site in San Jose had been cleared for a Google "Downtown West" campus, with construction to start by the end of this year, according to CNBC.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed S. Al-Sudani chaired a meeting focused on discussing the provisions of the federal budget bill submitted to the Parliament. The meeting was attended by Parliament Deputy Speaker Muhsin Al-Mandalawi, Parliament Deputy Speaker Shakhwan Abdullah and MPs of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, as well...

Just days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that resulted in war, chaos, and political instability, Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that his government had prepared a three-year budget for the oil-dependent economy traditionally plagued by budgetary delays. The bill will include financial aid to...

Washington, United States--President Joe Biden will unveil a proposed budget on Thursday that would reduce the US national deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, in part by raising taxes, the White House said. The budget plan "will cut the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next 10 years,"...

Lack of relevant skills, constant innovation in a highly disruptive world while keeping in mind budget constraints and cybersecurity remain their key concerns, says an expert.

Israel's government approved the 2023-2024 budget against the backdrop of economic uncertainty linked to controversial judicial reforms advanced by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The government had been expected to adopt the budget during a cabinet meeting Thursday, but talks ran late into the night and also took...

The surplus for Q4 2022 was 3.18 billion, compared to a deficit of $0.90 billion in the same quarter of 2021.

At the time of the approval, the budget was estimated to hit a deficit of QAR 8.3 billion. "The deficit estimate was a result of the expenses related to hosting the World Cup, including security and all events accompanying the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,”  said Qatar’s Finance Minister Ali...

In 2023, some Middle Eastern economies appear to be more resilient than most developed markets, Maroun Kairouz, Director for MENA at the World Economic Forum, tells TRENDS.

London, United Kingdom--UK government finances recorded a stronger surplus than expected last month, official data showed Tuesday, news that analysts said could allow finance minister Jeremy Hunt to further ease a cost-of-living crisis. Net borrowing showed a surplus of £5.4 billion ($6.5 billion) in January, compared with the government's own forecast...

The year 2022 was crowned with excellent ratings for the Qatari economy, as the S&P's credit rating agency raised the rating of the State of Qatar from "-AA" to "AA" during the year 2022, and Moody's credit rating agency raised the outlook for the country from stable to positive.

The state, saddled with a crippling public wage bill and politically sensitive subsidies, is set to take in around 46.4 billion dinars ($14.8 billion), Boughdiri said. It will need to borrow some 23.5 billion dinars to cover state needs for the coming year, she added. To find the cash, it...

Algiers, Algeria-- Algeria approved the 2023 budget, the largest in the country's history after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune approved the Finance Law on Sunday. The Algerian government allocated the largest budget since its independence - 6 decades ago - at a value of $98.5 billio), an increase of $24.5 billion over...

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES - US lawmakers early Tuesday released the text of a US$1.7 trillion funding bill which Congress hopes to pass within days to avert a government shutdown. The bill includes $858 billion in defense funding and will also provide $44.9 billion in emergency assistance for Ukraine. It also includes...

Thanks to high oil prices, Saudi Arabia has recorded its first annual budget surplus in almost a decade, beating its own projections. The kingdom's finance ministry said that the surplus for 2022 touched $27 billion, representing 2.6 percent of GDP.

With its revenues buoyed by high hydrocarbon prices over the past year, Algeria intends to double its defense budget to $23 billion next year. Africa's top natural gas producer has seen a spike in tensions with its neighbor Morocco over the disputed Western Sahara.

Inflation has hit Europe hard, forcing people to cut down expenses. But Nespresso boss Guillaume Le Cunff says their coffee capsules are creature comforts and will as a result be most sought after by customers, saying that people tend to stick with their 'everyday' small pleasures such as having a...

The G20 health ministers have agreed to establish a pandemic fund.

Muscat, Oman---Oman’s budget achieved a surplus of RO 1.123 billion ($2.92 billion) at the end of September 2022, the country's finance ministry reported in its Fiscal Performance Monthly Bulletin. For the same period last year, the budget reported a deficit of RO 1.030 billion. Oman’s public revenue stood at RO...

Consumers in the Gulf country plan to adjust their lifestyle by reducing their household and miscellaneous expenses over the next three months, a latest survey points out.

Saudi Arabia is expecting to record an increase in its budget surplus in 2022 to S24 billion, according to the kingdom's Minister of Finance. The top oil exporter of the world is hoping to see its GDP grow by 8 percent, and it expects inflation to be around 2.6 percent.

Prodded by the IMF to implement reforms, Lebanon's parliament has approved the 2022 budget setting expenditures at $1.2 billion. The crisis-stricken country and the IMF had reached a conditional agreement on a $3 billion loan in April to help the country tackle its economic crisis.

Hotels, condominiums, cruise ship cabins, and even desert camps have all stepped up to accommodate the overflow of tourists as the Gulf country is getting ready for the event.

Continuing with its slide against the dollar, the pound hit a record low on fears about the UK economy after the government presented a huge tax-cutting budget. Countries around the world are battling high inflation and seeking to curb it with interest rate hikes. But analysts fear such moves can...

GCC countries have witnessed financial surpluses in their budgets for the first time in a long time on the back of increase in oil prices, strengthening their credit ratings.

Bahrain has posted a budget surplus of $88 million in the first half of 2022, from a deficit of $1.38 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance and National Economy said in its Mid-year Financial Report for 2022. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National...

More than a year after it issued bonds for the Japanese market, Egypt intends to issue another tranche of international bonds worth $6 billion this year, according to media reports quoting a government official.

The UAE will raise its 2022 federal budget spending by an additional Dh1.23 billion ($334.9 million), according to the Federal National Council (FNC)