Saudi should increase power, water prices to curb consumption: Report

Saudi Arabia should consider repricing of its water and electricity to discourage overconsumption of the subsidized utilities, Reuters reported, citing Saleh al-Awaji, the deputy minister of electricity, who was speaking to reporters on the sideline of a conference.

Water and electricity use are growing at 8 percent a year, which will eventually strain the government budget and affect the reliability of the service in the future, he added.

He added that new legislations on pricing should be issued, taking into consideration those who deserve a subsidy. In February, Central Bank Governor Fahd al-Mubarak called for reforms to the energy and water prices.

Saudi Arabia plans to spend more than SAR 800 billion over the next ten years on water desalination and electricity projects, he said.

Mr Awaji told Reuters in April that peak power demand during summer was approaching total installed capacity of 60,000 megawatts.

On Tuesday, he said that total generation capacity was now above 65,000 MW, according to Reuters.