Saudi Arabia has put on hold a 380 billion won ($324 million) financial centre project being developed by Samsung C&T Corporation at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) for a seven-month period owing to financial difficulties amid oil slump, according to a Korean daily.

About 70 per cent of the KAFD stock exchange centre project has been completed, reported Pulse News.

The project is part of Saudi Arabia's plan to build its own Wall Street-like financial hub in capital Riyadh, but has now been paused in the wake of the government’s financial troubles, it stated.

KAFD, which is designed to become the largest financial hub in the Middle East, is being developed on a 1.6-million-sq-m site at an investment of about $7.8 billion.

The mixed-use project will see the construction of 73 buildings including the Saudi stock exchange and other key developments such as residential units, offices, exhibition halls, and hotels.

In 2012, Samsung C&T had been awarded the 230 billion won ($196 million) contract for the Saudi stock exchange centre project with the deadline set at September 2015, said the Korean daily.

It was working on the project with Saudi Arabia’s largest construction company Binladin Group, which along with developer Al Ra’idah had co-headed the KAFD development for Saudi Public Pension Agency (PPA).

However, some time back Binladin Group and Al Ra’idah stopped the work after PPA delayed making payments for the project, stated the report, citing an unnamed Samsung C&T official.

"The company is placed in a situation to adjust the pace of the construction as the payment on the project has been delayed,” the official added.