Riyadh, Jumada II 06, 1439, February 22, 2018, SPA -- The Minister of Finance Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan said that the current year's expansionary budget has demonstrated the government's policy of balancing the objectives by strengthening the financial situation and stimulating economic growth, showing positive results for the path of economic reform, as the budget deficit declined significantly in the last year 2017 compared to 2016 due to the implementation of the initiatives. This came during his speech at a special meeting organized by the Saudi Economic Society today about "economic reforms in light of the Kingdom's vision 2030, in the presence of a number of officials. Finance Minister explained that the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud aims at raising the standard of living of citizens by providing real employment opportunities, improving the level of public services and supporting citizens in the economic transition, emphasizing the implementation of a package of incentives for citizens in the form of cost of living allowance for state employees, retirees from the private and public sectors, beneficiaries of social security, in addition to the account of the citizen, which was allocated SAR 32 billion in the budget of 2018. -- SPA 01:23 LOCAL TIME 22:23 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w619175