Riyadh- Moody’s has affirmed that the drop in the Saudi budget deficit in the first six months of 2017 to less than the half compared to the same period in 2016 is a credit positive to the sovereign of the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has achieved a remarkable progress in revenues of the H1 of 2017, with revenues rising 29 percent compared to the same period in 2016 – the kingdom also managed to reduce deficit averages during H1 of 2017 51 percent compared to same period in 2016.

The registered deficit in H1 represents 37 percent of the government’s budgeted full-year deficit of SAR198 billion.

Further, the Saudi Finance Ministry showed in its report for the second quarter of 2017 that revenues rose 6 percent while total revenues of H1 reached around SAR307.9 billion (USD82.1 billion).

These positive figures are a result of the economic reforms. They also reflect the kingdom’s success in enhancing spending efficiency.

Total revenues of Q2 reached around SAR163.9 billion (USD43.7 billion) of the current fiscal year while non-oil revenues reached around SAR62.9 billion (USD16.7 billion), and oil revenues SAT100.9 billion (USD26.6 billion) – a 28 percent growth compared to same period in 2016.