Saudi current balance of payments surplus during the first quarter of 2017 reached SR 23.4 billion compared to a deficit of SR 76.17 billion for the same period last year.
    According to the analysis of the report unit in Al Eqtisadia newspaper based on SAMA preliminary data, the surplus came after a series of current account deficits since the fourth quarter of 2014, with the quarterly deficit continuing until the third quarter of last year, A surplus of about Rls 8.11 billion.
    According to the analysis, this surplus comes after the improvement in oil prices during the period, compared to the first quarter of 2016, as the balance of goods and services surplus by about 47.63 billion riyals, compared with a deficit of 42.47 billion riyals for the same period, in addition to a decline during the period about 6.5 percent.
    The current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of 103.3 billion riyals for the year 2016, compared with the year 2015, which registered a deficit of about 212.7 billion riyals. The balance of payments current account also recorded a surplus of about 276.59 billion riyals in 2014.
    The balance of payments consists of all exchanges of goods and services issued and received, in addition to the difference in cash remittances on two credit and debit aspects, the first being the rights of the country concerned to other foreign countries, and on the other side, the imports from abroad, payments from four accounts are the calculation of the primary income and the secondary income account, as well as the capital account and the financial account. This account reflects the strength of the economy and its adaptation to the changes taking place in the international economy.
    The balance of payments to GDP for the first quarter shows a surplus of 3.64 percent, compared to a deficit of 12.5 percent for the same period last year, compared with a deficit of 0.71 percent for the last quarter (fourth quarter of 2016).
    Saudi Arabia recorded a trade balance surplus of 86.55 billion riyals during the first quarter, while surplus increased by 23.62 billion riyals in April, continuing the monthly surplus of the trade balance for the 14th consecutive month.​.