Saudi Arabia is predicting that its budget deficit will balloon to US$50 billion next year as low oil prices and lowered production eat into the Kingdom’s oil revenue, according an official budget released Monday by the Saudi Arabian government. The anticipated 2020 budget deficit would be up $15 billion on 2019 and will come even as Saudi Arabia plans to cut spending next year by 7.8%, to $272 billion. Revenues are expected to be down by 14.6%, according to the official statement. The 2020 budget deficit will next year, then, be 6.5% of its gross domestic product, up from 4.7% in 2019. The increase to the oil-rich Kingdom’s budget deficit comes as no surprise, as oil prices have fallen sharply from the days of $100 oil, and its oil production has taken a huge hit over the last year as it tried to do most of the production cutting […]