DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil giant Aramco paid the Saudi government 30 percent less in taxes in 2020, the company reported Monday, as the region’s largest economy grapples with the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices. Saudi Arabian Oil Co, the kingdom’s largest taxpayer, transferred $110 billion to the government in 2020, down from nearly $159 billion the year before. The kingdom’s 2021 budget plans to spend $263 billion, showing the significance of Aramco’s payments to state coffers. That’s despite Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious efforts to diversify the economy away from oil. Nearly all of the dividend money goes to the Saudi government, which owns more than 98 percent of the company.

Source: Egypt Independent March 22, 2021 12:45 UTC