The Ministry of Finance issued the following statement today to mark the state's general budget for the fiscal year 1428-1429H.: The following is the outcome of the implementation of the budget for the fiscal year 1427/1428 (2007), the highlights of the 1428/1429 (2008) budget, and the recent economic developments. The Outcome for Fiscal Year 1427/1428 (2007) The Ministry of Finance projects revenues to reach SR (621.5) billion in 2007, while expenditure amounts to SR (443) billion; there were increases in some expenditure items such as projects in the two holy mosques and other Mashair and other projects, subsidies, increase in appropriation to cover increase of admission in universities and scholarship program, and the 13th month salary. The total number of government contracts signed with the private sector in 2007 amounted to (3200) contracts with a total value about SR (83) billion. The surplus of the budget will be allocated as follows: 1. SR (25) billion for the Real Estate Development Fund. 2. SR (100) billion to be transferred to the government's reserve Account. 3. The remaining amount will be transferred to the public debt settlement account. Preliminary estimates indicate that public debt is expected to drop to around SR (267) billion at the end of fiscal year (2007) which represents (19) percent of projected GDP for 2007 compared with (28) percent last year. The stock of debt is totally domestic. --More
