The managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde has said that Riyadh was right to slow the pace of economic reforms in the kingdom last year.

The comments came after Lagarde met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in Washington. She also said that GDP growth is expected to quicken during 2018. The IMF predicts that real GDP will grow by 1.6 per cent during 2018.

“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and I discussed recent economic developments in Saudi Arabia and the ongoing economic reforms,” said Lagarde. “The authorities are continuing to make good progress in implementing their ambitious reform agenda including through the recent introduction of the VAT and measures to increase women’s participation in the economy. The decision to slow the pace of fiscal adjustment as was set out in the 2018 budget is appropriate. The IMF expects real GDP growth to pick-up this year."

In October last year, the IMF said that Saudi Arabia should aim to balance its budget by 2022 rather than the 2019 target date set out in Riyadh’s Fiscal balance Programme.