RIYADH, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia is working to achieve a budget without deficit by 2023, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Wednesday, quoted by Al Arabiya local news.
He highlighted in a conference that the financial results of the first quarter of 2018 showed good performance in controlling expenditures and growth in non-oil revenues.
He continued that Saudi Arabia expected the deficit of 2018 budget to reduce to 52 billion U.S. dollars of around 7.3 percent of the GDP, while it reached 61 billion dollars last year.
The optimistic views of the minister are part of major initiatives the country takes to end its dependency on oil revenues, as the country has been promoting various business, tourism and entertainment projects to attract investment.
