Saudi Arabia’s finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday he was “unconcerned with current oil prices impacting spending plans in 2019″ and the government still aims to close its budget deficit by 2023 – though the target is not set in stone.
The government unveiled a $295 billion budget on Tuesday, the kingdom’s largest, with a seven percent increase in state spending to spur economic growth and a projected deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP.
Al Jadaan told Reuters that the Kingdom hopes to have a balanced budget by 2023, though the figure is “not set in stone.”
“We are still targeting 2023, but what I’m saying is we need to realize that it is not set in stone,” Jadaan said. “What’s the point of having a balanced budget on 23 specifically? It could be 22, it could be 24. We want to be disciplined, we want to be efficient and pro-growth,” according to Reuters.
