Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said on Tuesday he did not think oil prices would fall below $62 per barrel.

Asked on Al Arabiya television if Saudi Arabia would cut public spending if oil prices would fall below $62 per barrel, Al-Assaf said: 'Even if it did fall below $62, and I don't think it will, we will continue with our development programme.'

“I don't feel any concern at the moment ... the global crisis and the tougher conditions we have been faced with last year saw oil prices at lower levels,' he said at a financial conference.

'We will go ahead with the execution of projects planned under the government investment programme.'

Oil struggled more than a dollar higher to above $71 a barrel on Tuesday, recovering from a five-month low the previous session.

Al-Assaf also said the Saudi government had added SR10 billion ($2.67 billion) to its Industrial Development Fund, which extends soft loans to Saudi firms, bringing its total resources to SR30 billion.

'I would like to announce that the king agreed two days ago to come to the support of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund with 10 billion riyals in the form of a deposit and a bona fide law,' Al-Assaf said.

'The fund will now have resources of SR30 billion,” he added. – Reuters