Saudi Arabia Spends $57bn To Soften Economic Blow Of Covid-19

Saudi Arabia has spent more than $57 billion on initiatives designed to mitigate the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

In a statement, the SPA said that the money was spent on 142 separate initiatives, which have included support both the private and public sector, as well as wage protection measures, the suspension of a number of labour-related fines and the collection of customs duties on imports.

Over 650,000 people have directly benefitted from the measures, according to the kingdom’s Ministry of Finance.

Additionally, businesses have also been supported with additional time permitted to file tax and zakat returns.

Approximately SAR 9 billion ($2.39bn) was allocated to over 1.2 million citizens working in businesses that have felt the impact of the pandemic.

Early on in the Covid-19 crisis – in March – the Saudi Arabian Monetary Fund (SAMA) also reduced its policy rates twice, and introduced a SAR 50 billion ($13.32bn) package to boost the private sector. Banks were also instructed to delay repayment of loans for Saudi employees for three months, with no additional charges incurred.

To date, there have been 220,144 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia, including over 2,000 deaths and over 158,000 recoveries.