Cutting Expenditures and Pressuring Spending

- Settling mutual services with government entities while upholding the principle of annual budgeting.

- Developing revenues and collecting all dues... and responding swiftly to any deviations or obstacles.

Within the framework of fiscal policy directives, Minister of Finance Dr. Yaqoub Al-Rafai emphasized the necessity of concerted efforts in the areas of “reducing expenditures and curbing spending,” and “working to develop revenues and collect all outstanding revenues.”

In an updated circular issued by the Ministry regarding the preparation of quarterly financial monitoring reports for independent entities, Minister Al-Rafai stressed “the need to adhere to fiscal policy directives, the most important of which include the necessity of concerted efforts to reduce expenditures and curb spending, adhere to allocated appropriations without exceeding them, and align all financial and administrative decisions to achieve this goal; settle all mutual services with government entities while maintaining the principle of annual budgeting; and work to develop revenues and collect all outstanding revenues, in order to achieve the desired objectives of independent entities in conducting their activities and fulfilling their goals.”

He noted that “public finance does not fully achieve its objectives unless all efforts are combined to ensure the optimal use of funds, maximizing possible benefits, as well as selecting the best available alternatives amid the continuous changes in domestic and global market needs and factors.”

The Ministry, in its circular, emphasized the necessity of “monitoring the progress of operations and the financial status of each entity with independent budgets,” along with “supervising and following up on the implementation of the budget as an annual plan, and responding swiftly and appropriately to any deviations or obstacles that may hinder implementation through available legal and technical methods.”