Saudi pre-budget statement maintains loose fiscal stance

Saudi Arabia’s 2024 pre-Budget statement reaffirmed the government’s commitment to sustaining its loose fiscal stance, with the government now projecting budget deficits all the way out to 2026. That shouldn’t cause any problems given the Kingdom’s strong balance sheet and so long as oil prices stay high. But the deterioration in the underlying budget position means that, if oil prices were to fall sharply, officials may have little choice than to return to austerity