Saudi Handouts' Cost May Exceed Government Estimates, BofA Says
- Total cost may be 61.8 billion riyals vs 50 billion estimate
- Measures risk becoming permanent hurting future reforms
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Saudi authorities may have underestimated the financial cost of royal handouts dolled out to citizens complaining about rising prices, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The government will spend 61.8 billion riyals ($16.48 billion) on a package that included paying civil servants a monthly 1,000-riyal allowance for a year and restoring annual pay raises suspended in 2017, London-based economist Jean-Michel Saliba wrote in a report. Officials said the package would cost about 50 billion riyals.