Submitted by Fox First at Ten on December 29th
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia's official news agency says King Abdullah's cabinet has approved the kingdom's largest ever annual budget, projecting revenues of 829 billion rials, or $221 billion, for 2013 and 820 billion rials, or $219 billion of expenditure.
The budget foresees a $2.4 billion surplus.
The Cabinet meeting Saturday reported that revenues in 2012 amounted to $330 billion with $227 billion expenditure, leaving a $103 billion surplus. That surplus was due to the government's calculating oil prices at $70 per barrel, while the actual price stood at around $100 per barrel.
The 2013 allocation for education has risen by 21 percent to $54.3 billion. The budget includes $26.6 billion for health and social affairs services and $9 billion for municipality services.
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