Saudi King Extends Billions in Handouts for Another Year
- Package was valued at about 50 billion riyals last year
- Government has been seeking to shore up domestic support
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Saudi Arabia’s King Salman extended handout payments worth billions of dollars to citizens for another year to to cushion the impact of rising costs, a decision that may raise questions about the government’s commitment to trimming its wage bill.
The monarch, in a royal order carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, ordered the renewal of the cost of living allowance until a study of the kingdom’s “social protection system” is completed. The package will cost around 40 billion riyals ($10.7 billion), according to the Ministry of Finance.