The State Budget
The Ministry of Finance is working to enhance financial transparency and establish the principles of social engagement through the submission of the annual State Budget. In addition, it presents quarterly reports and citizen-oriented reports, which highlight the most significant financial data and economic updates. Such an approach enables the society and different institutions to be informed of the detailed fiscal performance of the government and to understand economic policies in a clearer manner. The Ministry is also keeping abreast with the technical developments through the provision of the electronic platforms that enable easy access to government performance indicators, while having access to the budget of each ministry or entity via its electronic websites. Such efforts reflect the keenness of the Kingdom to achieve the highest-level transparency, enhance confidence between the government and the society, and promote the engagement of the citizens in the economic development.
Government Expenditure Transparency
The budget of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is linked to the goals and objectives of the Kingdom Vision 2030 The Ministry of Finance has a commitment to explain the process of preparation of the budget with transparency, in order to ensure the sustainability to achieve future aspirations. The budget is subject to both legislative and regulatory audits and is based on the Law. The Basic Law of Governance and the State Budget require the entire government entities to apply the following principles of budget governance:
- Transparency, credibility and foreseeability of the financial policy.
- Alignment with the Saudi Vision of 2030 and any other national strategy or priority.
- Comprehensive and participatory discussion concerning Budget Planning.
- Open data and documents with transparency and accessibility.
- Comprehensive, accurate and credible calculation of the public funds.
- Effective planning for the implementation, management and monitoring of the Budget.
- Performance, evaluation, and money value are key parts of the budgeting process.
- Determination, evaluation and careful management of long-term sustainability and financial risks.
To ensure government Expenditure transparency, each entity shall submit annual and quarterly reports to the Ministry of Finance, after which the Ministry of Finance shall be committed to issue annual and quarterly reports on budget implementation, along with annual final account statements in the separate detailed annual reports on expenditures and revenues. Etimad Platform also plays an important role in elevating the levels of transparency and spending efficiency for its users, such as government and supervisory entities, contractors, vendors, merchants and others. All government entities are obliged to use the Platform to purchase goods or services and for payments. Government Expenditure & Projects Efficiency Authority (Expro) was established to achieve expenditure efficiency in government entities and enhance project, assets and infrastructure planning quality, as well as monitor the entities’ implementation of government programs and initiatives.
Open Data of State Budget (Revenues and Expenditure)
As part of promoting the principles of transparency and accountability and enabling society engagement, the Ministry of Finance has published open data related to the state budget, which includes details of revenues, expenditures, and spending on various sectors, through the National Open Data Platform. Publishing such data was part of the Ministry’s efforts to present the financial data to the public in an interactive and accessible way, to enable researchers and stakeholders to benefit from the data in analysis and decision-making.
The platform also provides links to interactive data dashboards that show the performance of the budget and financial indicators in a simplified and easy way, in confirmation of the Ministry of Finance's commitment to applying the best practices of financial transparency and digital transformation in the government sector.
Such open data include various packages related to the following:
- Macroeconomic Data
- Financial statements
- Economic Classifications of Expenses
- Economic Classifications Revenue
- Functional Classifications of Expenses
- Public Debt Balance
In addition, the Ministry provides an annual presentation of the State's Budget, along with quarterly reports and citizen-oriented reports, highlighting the most prominent financial data and economic developments, which help the society and various institutions to see the details of financial performance and understand economic policies more clearly.
The Ministry is also keeping abreast with the technical developments through the provision of the electronic platforms that allow easy access to government performance indicators, while having access to the budget of each ministry or entity via its electronic websites.
Such efforts reflect the keenness of the Kingdom to achieve the highest level of transparency, enhance confidence between the government and the society, and promote the engagement of the citizens in the economic development.
For more details
- To view the State Budget of the Kingdom through the Ministry of Finance website - budget performance reports
- Ministry of Finance