据今日油价12月17日报道，沙特阿拉伯将其2021年的预算计划减少了7%，以应对新冠肺炎疫情造成的经济影响，要知道疫情导致油价跌至多年来的低点。
路透社报道称，沙特明年将支出约2640亿美元，约合9900亿里亚尔，以应对最近油价暴跌导致的巨额赤字。
今年年初，沙特迫于石油市场形势，实施了一些不受市场欢迎的紧缩措施，包括将增值税提高三倍，以及取消大部分生活补贴。尽管政府坚称这些不是紧缩措施，但事实上，石油收入的下降就是对欧佩克头号石油出口国的经济带来的巨大冲击。
沙特阿拉伯预计2020年赤字将达到79.4亿美元(2980亿里亚尔)，占国内生产总值(GDP）的12%，这都是由于石油收入下降所导致的。今年沙特的石油收入预计将下降逾30%。然而，预计到2021年，赤字将降至GDP的4.9%，并在2023年恢复平衡。
这些预期可能意味着，沙特阿拉伯正寄望于2021年的油价出现相当强劲的复苏。高盛(Goldman Sachs)最近表示，由于新冠肺炎疫苗的推出将刺激石油需求增长，预计2021年布伦特原油的均价将升至每桶65美元。然而，风险始终存在，利比亚目前的日产量为128万桶，欧佩克将从2021年1月开始将日产量再增加50万桶，而大规模接种疫苗至少需要数月时间。
不过，沙特财政部已经承认了这种具有挑战性的市场环境。沙特石油部长表示："鉴于全球经济复苏的不确定性，以及危机可能持续的可能性，预测石油市场形势将变得越来越具有挑战性。"
此外，沙特财政部长穆罕默德?贾达安(Mohammed al-Jadaan)对此表示乐观：“我认为，第三季度和第四季度经济活动的复苏将预示着未来几年的经济增长。”
王佳晶 摘译自 今日油价
原文如下：
Low Oil Prices Force Saudi Arabia To Cut 2021 Budget Plan
Saudi Arabia reduced its budget plan for 2021 by 7 percent from this year’s in response to the economic fallout of the pandemic, which pushed oil prices to multi-year lows.
Reuters reported that Riyadh will spend some $264 billion next year, or 990 billion riyals, as it battles a substantial deficit resulting from the latest oil price collapse.
Earlier this year, the Kingdom was forced by oil market circumstances to implement some unpopular austerity measures, including a triple increase in value-added tax and the cancellation of so-called cost-of-living allowances for much of the population. While the government insisted these were not austerity measures, the fact of the matter was that the drop in oil revenues threatened the economy of OPEC’s number-one exporter.
Saudi Arabia expects its 2020 deficit to hit $79.40 billion (298 billion riyals), representing 12 percent of gross domestic product, all because of the drop in oil revenues, which is seen at more than 30 percent this year. In 2021, however, the government expects the deficit to shrink to 4.9 percent of GDP and return to balance by 2023.
These expectations likely mean Saudi Arabia is banking The Saudi finance ministry has acknowledged the challenging environment.
“In view of the uncertainty surrounding the pace of the global economic recovery and the potential persistence of the crisis, predicting the state of the oil market becomes increasingly challenging,” the ministry said in a statement as quoted by Reuters.
Yet, separately, Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan signaled optimism: “I think that the economic recovery of economic activities in the third and fourth quarters bodes well for economic growth in the coming years,” he told media.