PARIS: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday lost its high-quality credit rating from the Fitch agency, which lowered the kingdom a notch because of worsening public finances as the oil price wobbles.

Dropping its notation from AA- to A+, Fitch said it was doubtful whether Saudi Arabia could implement its reform programme after a “significantly wider than expected fiscal deficit in 2016”. Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia in December projected another budget deficit for this year, after already reporting a shortfall for 2016 in the face of lower oil prices.

It was the first budget since the kingdom, aiming for a balanced budget by 2020, announced a wide-ranging plan to wean the economy off its oil dependency.

Fitch put last year’s budget deficit at 17.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017