Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz named Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom's prime minister and Prince Khalid as defence minister, a royal decree showed on Tuesday.
The reshuffle kept, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, as energy minister, the king said in the royal decree, carried by state news agency SPA.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan and Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih remain in their positions, the decree showed.
The crown prince, known as MbS, is promoted from defence minister and has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
His new role as prime minister is in line with the king's previous delegation of duties to him, including representing the kingdom on foreign visits and chairing summits hosted by the kingdom, a Saudi official said.
Prince Khalid bin Salman, MbS's younger brother, previously served as deputy defence minister.
The crown prince said the kingdom has increased its self-sufficiency in military industries to 15% from 2% and plans to reach 50% under the newly appointed defence minister, SPA reported.
King Salman will still preside over the Cabinet meetings he attends, the decree showed. After the decree was made, state TV showed the king chairing a weekly cabinet meeting.
