Saudi Arabia's quarterly budget deficit more than doubled as the kingdom's oil revenues fell sharply amid the turmoil caused by the war between the United States and Iran. According to the Ministry of Finance, the budget deficit in the third quarter. 2026 amounted to 84 billion riyals ($22.4 billion), which is 145% more than the corresponding period last year. Oil revenues fell by almost 40% from the previous quarter to about 116 billion riyals. However, Saudi Arabia's public debt is small by world standards - about 32.5% of GDP. But servicing the national debt is becoming much more expensive. With inflation at 1.9%, the yield on 10-year domestic government securities reached 6.1-6.2%, and 10-year Eurobonds are trading at a yield of 5.1%. In the first nine months of 2026, Saudi Arabia spent 54.8 billion riyals on interest payments on loans and bonds. For comparison, in the corresponding period last year this amount was 39.5 billion riyals.

Saudi Arabia's quarterly budget deficit more than doubled as the kingdom's oil revenues fell sharply amid the turmoil caused by the war between the United States and Iran. According to the Ministry of Finance, the budget deficit in the third quarter. 2026 amounted to 84 billion riyals ($22.4 billion), which is 145% more than the corresponding period last year. Oil revenues fell by almost 40% from the previous quarter to about 116 billion riyals. However, Saudi Arabia's public debt is small by world standards - about 32.5% of GDP. But servicing the national debt is becoming much more expensive. With inflation at 1.9%, the yield on 10-year domestic government securities reached 6.1-6.2%, and 10-year Eurobonds are trading at a yield of 5.1%. In the first nine months of 2026, Saudi Arabia spent 54.8 billion riyals on interest payments on loans and bonds. For comparison, in the corresponding period last year this amount was 39.5 billion riyals.