Saudi Arabia announced its budget figures on Sunday, showing total revenues of 849 billion riyals for the year 2021 compared to 782 billion riyals last year, with a target of 1,045 billion riyals for the upcoming year. On the expenses side, total expenditures for 2021 are expected to reach approximately 1,015 billion riyals, a decrease of 5.6% from the actual expenditures of 2020 and an increase of about 2.6% over the adopted budget.
The 2021 budget recorded the highest non-oil revenues ever. It is expected that revenues in 2021 will be around 930 billion riyals, representing a 19% increase compared to 2020, attributed to the anticipated rise in oil revenues and an 18.2% increase in non-oil revenues compared to 2020, excluding amounts from exceptional profits from government investments collected last year. The Saudi Ministry of Finance expects a 10.1% increase in non-oil revenues in 2021 compared to the approved estimates.
Although the total expected expenditures for the current year are higher than the adopted budget compared to 2019, it has decreased by 4.2%, reflecting the government's efforts to enhance spending efficiency. The increase in total expenditures compared to the current year's budget for 2021 is due to several main factors, including expenditures related to the COVID-19 virus, which encompasses increased working hours for some health sector employees due to the rapid vaccination of the population in the kingdom, as well as expenses for vaccine purchases and expanding its distribution across various age groups. This results in the figures being more comprehensive than initially planned, alongside increased zakat revenues and consequently increased zakat income, social security expenditures, and increased foreign aid to countries and international organizations, reflecting the kingdom's important international role in supporting the global economy while also serving its interests, including higher capital expenditures to accelerate the implementation of certain projects.
Compared to actual expenditures in 2020, operational expenditures at the end of the 2021 fiscal year are expected to reach about 903 billion riyals, showing a decrease of 1.9% due to reduced spending across different sections. Other expense categories are expected to decrease by 12.6%, and goods and services by 2.2%, attributable to the unusually high expenditures related to the pandemic in 2020. Additionally, grants are expected to increase by 2.8%, while financing expenditures are anticipated to rise by about 18.5% due to an increase in the debt balance.
Compensation for employees is expected to increase by 0.4% due to payments for off-hour work for some health sector employees, in addition to including non-recurring amounts disbursed to the General Organization for Social Insurance during the current year of 2021. Capital expenditures are expected to reach about 112 billion riyals, which is 27.7% lower than the actual expenditures of 2020. This is due to the government's progress in developing infrastructure and providing opportunities for the private sector and funds to lead investment projects, alongside the completion of several projects for constructing water stations, networks, water tanks, sewage, and various major projects across different sectors.
