The Kingdom's budget announcement will be postponed to a later date because of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit being held here on Dec. 19 and 20, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette in a telephone interview. “The budget will be announced soon,” he said. The budget was supposed to have been announced Monday. Meanwhile, Dr. Ihsan Buhlaigah, an economist and former Shoura Council member, expects the actual revenues for 2011 to be SR1.185 trillion with spending at about SR704 billion. He told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that if revenues exceed initial budget projections by 30 percent, then there will be a surplus of about SR481 billion. However, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said in August that it expects a surplus of SR185 billion. “This explains the difference between our forecast and the figures issued by SAMA,” he said. Buhlaigah said an increase in revenue will continue into the new year because of oil prices. Non-oil revenues are expected to remain at about SR60 billion. He said the government will likely prioritize spending on health, education, skills training and investment. He said SR256 billion was set aside in this year's budget for investment. The Kingdom still has one of the world's highest rates of investment spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to other wealthy countries. __
