RIYADH, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday that its revenues reached 72.9 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2018, surging 67 percent from a year ago.

The non-oil revenues in the same period hit 23.8 billion dollars, up 42 percent year on year, the ministry said in a report on its official website.

Meanwhile, the oil revenues reached 49.1 billion dollars with an increase of 82 percent year on year due to a rise in global oil prices, it added.

The report also revealed that the expenditures reached 74.9 billion dollars with an increase of 34 percent, while the deficit decreased to 1.96 billion dollars.

The public debt, however, increased from 118.2 billion dollars at the beginning of the year to 143.2 billion dollars by the end of the second quarter.

Commenting on the fiscal results, Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan stated that the financial figures reflected the improvement in the public finances performance.

He said the improvement in financial performance was accompanied by good economic results, with real GDP growing 1.2 percent in the first quarter.