The government will officially close its books for the 2011 fiscal year on Dec. 30 (Safar 5, 1433H). The new fiscal year will start on Saturday Dec. 31, 2011 (Safar 6, 1433H). Sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the Ministry of Finance will stop all purchasing orders for government authorities by Dec. 16, 2011 (Muharram 20, 1433H). Government authorities will be given two weeks to close the final accounts of the general budget. According to the sources, government authorities have already started to stop purchases from the current budget for machines, equipment and other requirements. This is because the upcoming period coincides with the Eid Al-Adha holiday. According to 2011 budget estimates earlier this year, spending is set to be about SR540 billion and revenues SR470 billion, with an expected deficit of SR70 billion. The budget included programs for new projects at a cost of SR256 billion. __
