Saudi foreign minister defends deficit spending as manageable after credit rating downgrade
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Saudi Arabia's top diplomat says the kingdom can manage its deficits despite a steep drop in oil prices, a day after a leading rating agency cut the country's credit rating.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the comments Saturday at a security conference in Bahrain, saying "the deficits the kingdom will be running this year are manageable."
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut Saudi Arabia's credit rating by one notch from "AA-" to "A+" and said the credit outlook for the kingdom remains negative.
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Saudi Arabia's Finance Ministry strongly disagreed with the decision, describing it as "reactionary" and driven by fluid market conditions rather than the economic fundamentals.