The International Monetary Fund warned Saudi Arabia on Wednesday not to tighten fiscal policy too fast, saying rapid cuts to the government's budget deficit could damage the economy, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Tim Callen, head of an IMF team which held annual consultations with Saudi officials last week, said Riyadh's goal of balancing its budget was appropriate. Low oil prices in the past couple of years have pushed it deep into the red.

Saudi Arabia has dodged a financial crisis due to low oil prices by slashing state spending and borrowing tens of billions of dollars abroad, but now it faces a tougher challenge: getting the economy growing again, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. In a series of interviews with Reuters reporters last week, senior Saudi officials said reforms announced on national television by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a year ago had stabilised state finances enough for the government to begin focusing on investing in the economy.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has reinstated allowances and bonuses for state employees as its finances improve, a move aimed at boosting consumer confidence to support growth as the kingdom overhauls its oil-dependent economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a spate of decrees issued late on Saturday, the king also appointed one of his sons, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, as the minister of state for energy, industry and mineral resources. Another of his sons, Prince Khaled bin Salman, was named ambassador to the U.S., according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

King Salman serves as chairman of the family business unofficially known as “Al Saud Inc.” Sustained low oil prices have strained the economy and forced questions about whether the family — with thousands of members and still growing — can simultaneously maintain its lavish lifestyle and its unchallenged grip on the country, the International New York Times reported. “The people have less money than before, but the royal family have the same,” said Prince Khalid bin Farhan al-Saud, a dissident member of the extended family living in Germany.

Embattled Saudi construction firm Mohammad Al Mojil Group (MMG) said it has written directly to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman explaining that it may not be able to continue operating, Reuters reported. It was unclear if the privately owned company was seeking financial or other assistance from the government. In a short statement via the stock exchange on Monday, MMG said its letter to the prince also addressed constraints imposed by banks and the government, and legal restrictions that were blocking company leaders from speaking publicly about proposed solutions to its problems.

Construction giant Saudi Oger has asked banks to agree to a freeze in repayments on at least 13 billion riyals ($3.5 billion) of debt, sources aware of the matter said, as it seeks more time to collect money owed by the kingdom's government, Reuters reported. The request opens the way for the company, owned by the family of Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, to press ahead with seeking one of the largest debt restructuring deals in the Gulf since the slide in oil prices in June 2014.

Saudis who switched on a popular talk show last week to listen to officials explain why state employees had their take-home pay cut were in for a shock, Bloomberg News reported. Within minutes of the start of MBC1’s “Al Thamena” program, viewers were told that the public sector was bloated. Civil Service Minister Khalid Al-Araj said state workers were productive for no more than an hour a day, but see their jobs as a right. Mohammad Al Tuwaijri, the deputy economy minister, said without the recent austerity measures, the kingdom would have gone bankrupt in three to four years.

Low oil prices and an increasingly costly war in Yemen have torn a yawning hole in the Saudi budget and created a crisis that has led to cuts in public spending, reductions in take-home pay and benefits for government workers and a host of new fees and fines, the International New York Times reported. Huge subsidies for fuel, water and electricity that encourage overconsumption are being curtailed. For Almarai, one of the top brands in the Middle East, that will mean $133 million from the bottom line this year, company officials said.

Ahead of a multibillion-dollar bond issue, Saudi Arabia warned investors of the challenges that cheap oil poses to its economy and said it would take 70 years to sell all of its oil, prompting concerns that some of it could go unrealized, The Wall Street Journal reported. The disclosures—included in the government’s bond prospectus issued on Tuesday—raise questions over the ability of the oil-dependent kingdom to quickly turn around its economic fortunes after more than two years of low crude prices.

The Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment has published a new bankruptcy draft law and invited feedback those interested, with their opinions and suggestions before the deadline of October 27, Al Arabiya reported today. The Ministry of Commerce said that the bankruptcy law will enable stalled projects to be completed taking into consideration the financial constraints and to carry forward the business or to liquidate them if need be, while at the same time guaranteeing the rights of creditors and other stakeholders.