RIYADH,(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is able to maintain its current level of government spending in the medium term and beyond, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said.

Asked whether strong growth in government spending was sustainable, Al-Assaf told reporters: “We have the… ability to continue this scale of spending.

“We have the reserves, as well as we are reducing our debt almost to zero. So we can continue in the medium term and even beyond that,” he said.

The Kingdom has set a record state budget of SR820 billion for 2013, 19 percent higher than the amount budgeted for 2012.