Aramco Dividend Won’t Cover Saudi Budget Gap

The massive US$75-billion annual dividend of Saudi Aramco cannot fund the widening budget gap of Saudi Arabia if oil prices remain low beyond 2021, Moody’s said in a report this week. The Saudi budget depends to a large extent on the royalties, taxes, and of course, the dividend from Saudi Aramco, which pledges to pay US$75 billion in annual dividends to its shareholders, the largest of which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with 98 percent. The higher Saudi budget spending this year will be offset by Aramco’s capacity to pay dividends,…