Pace of Saudi reforms won’t change due to higher oil prices: Al-Jadaan

Higher crude prices will not change the pace of fiscal reforms in Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Saudi finance minister, told CNBC on Wednesday.

"Higher oil prices will only help reduce the deficit and build reserves, we will continue our reform," he told the news channel on the sidelines of Euromoney Conference 2018 in Riyadh.

"I assure you that there is a lot of excitement about reform and when you see results you get more energy to do more because you can see that it's working and helping the economy."

Al-Jadaan said that oil revenues were increasing as prices rise, which is helping the Kingdom to reduce its deficit, which the government has managed "to reduce by 40 percent in the last two years."

Asked about the current higher oil prices, he said: "Oil prices are a market dynamic. I don't think it's up to oil producers to set the price otherwise we would not have seen prices below $30 a few years ago. It's a market dynamic (based on) supply and demand and we think demand is going to continue."

Addressing the conference earlier in the day, the finance minister said the Kingdom had a projected budget deficit of SAR 195 billion in 2018, or 7.3 percent of its gross domestic product, down from SAR 230 billion last year.