CAIRO: Saudi Arabia reported its first quarterly budget surplus since the first quarter of 2019, as oil prices are trading at a multiyear high and the government cut down on its social spending and rationalised expenditures, Arab News reported.

The kingdom’s budget turned to a surplus of SR6.68 billion ($1.78 billion) in the third quarter of this year, up from a deficit of SR4.61 billion in the previous quarter, and a deficit of SR41 billion in the third quarter of 2020, the Saudi Ministry of Finance revealed in its latest quarterly report.

Oil revenues went up 60 per cent in the three months ending September from a year ago, reaching SR148 billion, according to the report.

Social spending fell down 41 per cent over the same period last year, while the subsidies fell down by almost half, the data showed.

“The surplus occurred, despite a noticeable rise in the financing cost, which rose 20 per cent, which is in line with the larger international and domestic debt the kingdom is accumulating,” Mohamed Ramady, a London-based independent economist, told Arab News.

“The surplus was a result of a combination of rationalised spending and higher oil prices, and this is expected in the next quarter,” he added.