UPDATE 1-Saudi Arabia forecasts deficit of $44 billion in 2026 budget

The strategy requires hundreds of billions of dollars in government investment. The budget set the kingdom's total spending at 1.31 trillion riyals, with total revenues projected at 1.15 trillion riyals.

Saudi Arabia approved the kingdom's budget for 2026 with an estimated deficit of 165 billion riyals ($44 billion), the Saudi state news agency reported on Tuesday.

The world's top oil exporter is more than halfway through its Vision 2030 economic transformation blueprint introduced by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016. The strategy requires hundreds of billions of dollars in government investment.

The budget set the kingdom's total spending at 1.31 trillion riyals, with total revenues projected at 1.15 trillion riyals. The Crown Prince said after the budget's approval that the economic transformation since Vision 2030 was launched improved the growth of non-oil activities and boosted the role of the private sector in the kingdom, the state news agency cited him as saying. ($1 = 3.7536 riyals)

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