The 2026 Budget: How Saudi Arabia Quietly Abandoned Its Own Megaprojects

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Saudi 2026 budget, approved by King Salman on 2 December 2025, framed the Kingdom’s fiscal reality in hard numbers: 350 billion dollars in total expenditure, a projected deficit of 44 billion dollars, and a GDP growth forecast of 4.6 per cent. It also told a story that no NEOM press release, no Mukaab rendering, and no giga-project announcement has ever told: the story of what Saudi Arabia can actually afford.

Deficit on SAUDI VISION 2030 Intelligence Platform

The 2026 Budget: How Saudi Arabia Quietly Abandoned Its Own Megaprojects