In the US, once the Government spends a certain amount on a project, no one should have the Chutzpa to suggest that - after the crisis is over – the spending should go back to normal levels. ”Republicans want to kill the poor” will be the response. But the rich Saudis have a different approach in budgeting.
Breitbart reports that
Under the budget announced by the Finance Ministry, revenues are forecast at 702 billion riyals ($187 billion), while expenditures are projected at 690 billion riyals, or 16.5 percent below spending in 2011. The surplus realized in 2011 came in at 306 billion riyals ($69.7 billion).
Earlier in the year, as a wave of popular unrest ripped through the Arab world, King Abdullah announced a roughly $130 billion public spending plan that largely benefited the kingdom’s lower income population.
For 2011, Saudi public revenues came in at 1.1 trillion riyals while expenditures totaled 804 billion riyals, or 224 billion more than had initially been forecast, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Economic growth is forecast at 6.8 percent, the ministry said, adding that 250 billion riyals had been set aside from 2011′s budget to fund the construction of 500,000 new homes.
