Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance has revised up this year’s expected budget deficit to a five-year high of $65.3bn as lower-than-expected global economic growth and the resultant drop in oil prices have taken their toll on finances. The revised deficit estimate in this week’s 2026 pre-budget statement is more than double the original figure of $26.9bn when the 2025 budget was published in December 2024 (see chart 1).