Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has replaced the kingdom’s Water & Electricity Minister Abdullah al-Husayen.

Agriculture Minister Abdulrahman al-Fadhli has taken over Al-Husayen’s portfolio as acting minister, according state news agency SPA, which cited a royal decree.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, who is driving the sweeping economic reforms in Opec’s top oil producer, was recently quoted in media reports as saying that an increase in the water tariffs had not been implemented in line with the plans.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest Middle Eastern economy that relies heavily on the sale of hydrocarbons for revenues, is running an austerity campaign after oil prices fell from a mid-2014 peak of more than $100 a barrel to current $40 a barrel range.

The kingdom has capped the award of new projects and has cut fuel, water and electricity subsidies, on which it was spending billions of dollars every year. Raising tariffs is regarded as politically sensitive and has drawn criticism from the Saudi public.

The rise in petrol prices and electricity tariffs, the first in many years, was announced after the national budget in December.

Power demand growth in the kingdom is estimated at about 10 per cent a year and some electricity is produced by burning crude oil that would otherwise be available to sell on the global market.

Riyadh is planning to introduce nuclear and renewable energy plants, but the proposals are still at an early stage.