Saudi Arabia not to increase spending, minister says

* username: rupertbu

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, will resist pressures to increase spending, as the country aims to keep its fiscal reserves at a "good level," the country's finance minister said on Sunday.

Ibrahim al-Assaf also said economic indicators gave cause for optimism for the Saudi economy but more broadly he sounded a note of caution, saying the Group of 20 richest nations should not rush into withdrawing their economic stimulus packages just yet.

"It could lead to another dip in the world economy," he said, at a conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh