Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's recent fiscal procedures will increase the government's revenues sustainably, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday in a report.

The kingdom's higher spending shows that commitment to consolidation is restricted by the desire to boost economic growth, Fitch added.

“The credibility of the Kingdom's fiscal framework, including new spending control mechanisms announced in the updated Fiscal Balance Programme published in December 2017, is still limited,” the ratings agency’s statement noted.

In 2018, the Saudi revenues may also have an one-off support through settlements with detained wealthy individuals who were arrested in the anti-corruption probe that occurred in November 2017.

Fitch expected that the ratio of non-oil deficit to non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) will slash marginally to 36.6%.

 “We affirmed Saudi Arabia's 'A+'/Stable sovereign rating on 2 November 2017,” Fitch concluded.