Saudi Arabia’s economy minister rejected recent reports that the kingdom’s $1.5 trillion NEOM megaproject, a futuristic desert development on the Red Sea coast, is scaling back some of its plans.  “All projects are moving full steam ahead,” Faisal Al Ibrahim told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Monday at the World Economic Forum’s special meeting in Riyadh.  

The purported scaling back of plans, at least in the medium-term, comes amid reported concerns over finances for NEOM, which is part of the kingdom’s broader Vision 2030 initiative to diversify its economy away from oil. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, has not yet approved NEOM’s budget for 2024, according to Bloomberg’s report.

Al Ibrahim stressed that the projects would be delivered according to plan, but with the qualification that decisions were being made for “optimal economic impact.”

Sindalah Island is expected to receive its first visitors by the end of 2024.

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