Economic growth in Saudi Arabia is set to slow this year and next as the government is forced to reduce spending to compensate for lower oil prices, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product will grow by 2.8 percent this year and 2.4 percent in 2016, the IMF said in e-mailed statement at the conclusion of its regular country consultation. That compares with 3.5 percent growth last year. Growth may expand to 3 percent in the “medium term,” it said. The world’s largest oil producer turned to the bond market this year for the first time since 2007 after oil prices fell by over 50 percent. The resulting budget deficit, which the IMF projects at 19.5 percent of GDP, may force Saudi rulers to abandon the kingdom’s traditional largess. Saudi Arabia needs “comprehensive energy price reforms, firm control of the public sector wage bill, […]