Saudi Aramco failed to generate enough cash to cover its dividend, yet left the payout unchanged at $18.75 billion for the third quarter even as profit fell 45% and debt continued to rise. The Saudi Arabian state energy firm’s free cash flow was $12.4 billion between July and September, compared with $20.6 billion a year earlier. Gearing climbed to 21.8% from 20% in June and from minus 5% in March, when Aramco had more cash than debt. Aramco’s dividends are a vital source of cash for the Saudi government, whose budget deficit is expected to widen to 12% of gross domestic product this year amid a coronavirus-triggered crash in crude prices and a severe economic contraction. Yet the company, 98% owned by the government, probably won’t be able to continue paying out such high dividends unless oil prices, down 40% in 2020, rise, Moody’s Investors Service said last month. […]