Under the chairmanship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Cabinet held its weekly session here today. During the session, the Cabinet approved the State Budget for the fiscal year 1430/1431H. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Amin Madani said that "Under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Cabinet approved the State Budget for the fiscal year 1430/1431H.". Following that, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud addressed his fellow citizens, announcing the the budget as follows: "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Thanks to Allah Almighty, prayers and peace be upon Prophets and Messengers My brother citizens, my sister female citizens Peace and blessings be upon you all With the grace of Allah Almighty, we would like to announce the budget of the new fiscal year (1430-1431H) which amounts to SR 475 billion, with an increase of SR 65 billion compared to the budget of the current fiscal year. The new budget, despite the sharp decline in the petroleum prices during its preparation, will be, God willing, enhancing the development programs which lead to the growth of the national economy and cementing confidence in it as well as making job opportunities available for the citizens and female citizens. We have issued our directives to carry out new programs and projects at a cost of more than SR 225 billion, an increase of 36 percent from the allocations in this current budget, and three times of what was approved at the beginning of the Eighth Development Plan, which began four years ago. In the sector of general education and higher education, training of workforce, sciences and technology, scientific research, and foreign scholarship programs about SR 122 billion have been allocated. This figure constitutes more than a quarter of the allocations of the new budget. --More
