Top economists have welcomed the expansionary departure from the tight fiscal control of the past three years reflected in this week's Saudi budget.
But there was some debate as to the degree of stimulus that will be injected into the economy, the projections for the non - oil economy next year, as well as the possibility of further "austerity" measures in the years leading up to 2023 - when public finances are forecast to be balanced.
Jean Michel Saliba, MENA economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said: "The 2018 budget walks a fine line. It is, on balance, expansionary as the austerity pace eases but reforms continue despite revised medium - targets. "
However, economists were surprised by the announcement of an extra SR135 billion of expenditure from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and other government agencies, announced separately from the general budget statement - bringing the total public spend to SR1. 1 trillion.
"It's hard to know how to treat this and to make any comparison, because we do not know how much these agencies spent in 2017, " said Tuvey.
There was a general consensus that the 2018 budget would help the economy to grow faster. "We now think growth will be closer to 1. 5 percent in 2018, compared to our previous forecast of 0. 8 percent, " said Tuvey.
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