JEDDAH: Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said Tuesday that government spending on development projects had increased by 200 percent during the past five years. He said the SR70 billion deficit in the 2010 budget was the result of the government’s plan to increase spending on welfare projects and not because of any crisis.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah announced Monday the national budget for 2010, projecting expenditures at SR540 billion and revenues at SR470 billion.
Speaking about the 2009 budget, Al-Assaf said the government had carried out projects worth SR180 billion during the year.
“Prices in the Kingdom are better than those in other countries,” he told Al Arabiya news channel when asked about the inflation rate.
He said the deficit in the 2009 budget was caused by emergency spending on food subsidies, salary raises for some employees and additional defense and security expenditures.
Al-Assaf emphasized the government’s plan to start the multibillion dollar Ras Al-Zour mineral project in 2010 in order to make it the fourth largest industrial city in the Kingdom, after Jubail, Yanbu and Jeddah.
Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said the new budget, allocating SR540 billion for government spending, reflected the strength of the Saudi economy. “This is the largest budget the country has ever seen,” he added.
Al-Gosaibi commended the government for allocating a quarter of the budget for education and manpower training. “This shows the government’s desire to achieve sustained development,” he said.
“The budget figures are in line with our hopes and aspirations,” the minister said. The massive government spending will create a large number of jobs for young Saudi men and women in both the public and private sectors.
Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry said the 2010 budget had allocated large amounts for development projects in different parts of the country. The SR10.8 billion set aside for the transport and communication sector will be used to construct new highways and two-way roads with a total length of 6,400 km, he said.
The budget has allocated SR1.49 billion for the development of seaports and SR830 million for the Saudi Railway Organization.
The Minister of Economy and Planning, Khaled Al-Gosaibi, said the new budget would speed up the Kingdom’s economic and social development. “Public spending is a major tool for boosting economic activity,” he said, adding that the new spending was directed at areas specified by the five-year development plans.
Ali bin Salman Al-Attiyah, deputy minister of higher education, said the new budget was proof of the success of economic policies adopted by the government under King Abdullah’s leadership.
“The budget aims at achieving comprehensive and balanced growth for all provinces of the Kingdom,” the minister said.
He praised the king for instructing the ministers to implement projects as quickly as possible.
“The allocation of SR137.6 billion for education and training emphasizes the government’s desire to invest in Saudi citizens, considering human development as the core of real development,” Al-Attiyah said. The budget makes allocations for new universities in Dammam, Al-Kharj, Majmaa and Shaqra.
The budget allocations for education also cover 1,200 schools; completion of the campuses of existing universities; and the establishment of new technical colleges and vocational institutes.
The budget allocates SR61 billion for health and social development and SR22 billion for municipal projects. Allocations for the water, industrial and agricultural sectors amounted to SR46 billion, which included funds for infrastructure projects required by mineral industries in Ras Al-Zour.
