Saudi Arabia’s sovereign credit rating has been affirmed at A1 by Moody’s Investors Service on expectations that fiscal consolidation will continue over the medium term, stabilising the kingdom’s debt burden.

Moody’s expects the government’s ambitious structural reform agenda to ‘reduce the exposure of Saudi Arabia’s economy and public sector balance sheet to oil prices’, according to a statement from the ratings agency.

The stable outlook indicates that the risks to the ratings are balanced, the New York-headquartered agency said.

Saudi Arabia’s economy shrunk by 0.7 per cent last year as the kingdom cut oil production, and the private sector struggled with lower crude prices and rapid economic policy shifts intended to diversify and open up the oil-dependent economy.

Saudi Arabia raised $11bn last week in the biggest dollar bond sale by an emerging market nation this year. The kingdom plans to borrow a total of $31bn this year to bridge an expected budget deficit of $52bn and fuel its growth plans.

Moody’s last changed its rating for Saudi Arabia in 2016, when it downgraded the kingdom from Aa3 to A1 as it struggled with a slump in oil prices. With regards to the two other ratings agencies, earlier this month S&P Global Ratings affirmed the kingdom’s credit rating at A-, with a stable outlook, while the kingdom is rated A+ by Fitch Ratings.