KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said in an interview published on Monday that he was in good health and will return home “very soon.”

“I want to assure all that I am in good health and will return soon, very soon to the kingdom to be among my family and people,” the octogenarian monarch told Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah newspaper from New York, where he is recovering.

The king flew to New York on November 22 and was operated on two days later for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a haematoma that put pressure on his spine.

He said that he has been following developments in the oil-rich kingdom and added that public spending will continue to increase every year while next year’s spending will surpass this year’s projections.

Riyadh projected spending at around 155 billion dollars in 2011, but actual spending normally far exceeds projections.