DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil giant Aramco says it paid the Saudi government 30% less in 2020. The region’s largest economy is grappling with the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices. Saudi Arabian Oil Co, the kingdom’s largest taxpayer, reported on Monday that it had 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. Aramco announced on Sunday that its profits fell some 44% in 2020 to $49 billion, amid turmoil in global energy markets unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
