Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has boosted spending on housing by 40 billion riyals (R76bn) and earmarked more funds for education and social welfare amid popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
The social security budget had been raised by 1 billion riyals, according to a statement read on state-run television.
King Abdullah had also ordered the creation of 1 200 jobs in supervision programmes and made permanent a 15 percent cost-of-living allowance for government employees, it was announced.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose 1 percent to 6 342.03 at 12.45pm in Riyadh, the first increase in nine days.
The world’s largest oil supplier is spending more on social programmes as political unrest rocks the region.
Governments in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya have cracked down on activists calling for greater job opportunities and political openness after uprisings have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. “They are trying to enlarge the pool of benefits for society given what is happening in the broader Middle East,” John Sfakianakis, the chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi, said in a phone interview from Riyadh.
King Abdullah was due to return to Saudi Arabia yesterday, state television announced. The 86-year-old king went to the US in November to receive medical treatment for a back injury. He has been recuperating in Morocco.
Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf oil producers have been spending petrodollars to create jobs, grow business and attract investment, in contrast to the strained government resources in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen.
In August the Saudi government announced a $385bn (R2.7 trillion at yesterday’s rates), five-year spending plan as the kingdom tries to reduce a jobless rate of 43 percent for Saudis aged 20 to 24.
The overall rate was 10.5 percent in 2009, according to data from the Central Department of Statistics and Information. – Bloomberg