Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, on Thursday announced a 2015 budget with a huge $38.6 billion deficit due to the sharp decline in oil prices but still raised spending.
A statement read on state-run television after a cabinet session said spending for 2015 is projected at 860 billion riyals ($229.3 billion) and revenues at 715 billion riyals ($190.7 billion).
Projected spending is slightly higher than the 855 billion riyals planned for this year, but revenues are 140 billion riyals lower than estimates for 2014.