Saudi Arabia posts 33.5bn riyals deficit in Q2

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it posted a deficit of 33.5 billion riyals ($8.93 billion) in the second quarter of this year, reversing a surplus of 27.8 billion riyals reported in the first three months of the year which was its first surplus since 2014.

The world's biggest oil exporter posted 174.9 billion riyals in oil revenues in the second quarter, down 5% when compared to the same period a year earlier, and non-oil revenues of 85.8 billion, 4% less than last year.

In the first half of the year, the kingdom posted an overall deficit of 5.68 billion riyals, according to data published by the Saudi ministry of finance on Tuesday.