Saudi Arabia recorded itswidest quarterly budget deficit in five yearsin the final three months of 2025, as lower crude oil prices weigh down the kingdom's finances,Bloombergis reporting.

Data released by the Saudi Ministry of Finance shows the government posted a deficit of 94.9 billion riyals ($25.3 billion) in the fourth quarter, which brought thetotal shortfall for 2025 to nearly 276.6 billion riyals($73.73 billion), more than double the previous year's 115.6 billion riyals ($30.82 billion) deficit in 2024.

The full-year deficit amounted to roughly 5.5 percent of gross domestic product.

Non-oil revenue reached about 122.6 billion riyals ($32.68 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2025, while oil revenue fell to around 154.2 billion riyals ($41.10 billion), down from 170.8 billion riyals ($45.53 billion) in the same period a year earlier, according to Finance Ministry data.

Saudi Arabia has been running budget deficits since late 2022, withBloomberg Economicsnoting that thekingdom would need oil prices to average about $97 per barrel in 2025 to balance its budget.

That figure rises to roughly $114 per barrel when domestic spending by the sovereign wealth fund is included. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, is currently trading at around $71.

This gap has prompted heavier borrowing on international bond markets, as well as major delays and downscaling of the Kingdom's large-scale megaprojects tied to the Saudi Vision 2030 program, championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS).

Bloombergreported in late January that Saudi authorities had begun pressing some of thekingdom's wealthiest familiesto inject additional capital into domestic ventures, asVision 2030 megaprojects face scaling back or suspension.

In the same month,Reutersreported that the construction of theMukaab, the towering cube-shaped centerpiece of Riyadh’s New Murabba development, was suspended beyond initial groundwork, as the Public Investment Fund (PIF) reassessed financing and feasibility.

TheFinancial Timeshad also reported that Saudi Arabia’s $1.5 trillionNEOM developmentis set to be significantly "downscaled and redesigned," with itsflagship component, The Line, being "radically scaled back."

Source: ZeroHedge News