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RIYADH: ����ֱ�� on Thursday announced it had undertaken another multibillion-dollar bond sale to finance a persistent budget deficit left by low oil prices.
The world’s top crude oil exporter raised $12.5 billion in its third international bond issue, the Finance Ministry said.
It comes as ����ֱ�� pursues economic and social reforms including this week’s announcement that it will end a ban on women driving.
The Kingdom has already undertaken three “sukuk” Islamic bond issues this year — including one international sale — totalling around $15 billion.
Last year it raised $17.5 billion in its first global bond issue — the largest ever by a single country. Previously it had sold domestic bonds.
The latest issue was heavily oversubscribed with orders worth $40 billion, according to the Finance Ministry.
A slump in global oil prices resulted in massive budget shortfalls in 2014.
����ֱ�� has posted a budget deficit in each of the past three years and is headed for a fourth year in the red in 2017.
The Kingdom’s deficit topped $200 billion from 2014 to 2016, and it is forecast to post a $53 billion shortfall this year.
Riyadh has also withdrawn more than $230 billion from its fiscal reserves since the end of 2014 to finance the budget deficit. Its reserves now stand at just over $490 billion.
Economic growth in ����ֱ�� is expected to hit just 0.1 percent this year, the weakest since 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The Kingdom is due to introduce its first value-added tax (VAT) in early 2018 and is preparing to sell just under five percent of energy giant Aramco next year.