Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia distributes cash to the disadvantaged

Handouts ordered as government cuts other aspects of the welfare state and hikes value added tax

Saudi Arabia announced Monday, May 11, 2020, it is tripling taxes on basic goods to 15 per cent and will cut spending on major projects by around $26 billion as it grapples with blows from the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices on its economy. APShow less

King Salman of Saudi Arabia has ordered one-off cash assistance payments to each family on welfare rolls, the latest financial measure taken by the government to contain the impact of the coronavirus on the economy.

Shortly after the hike in Value Added Tax, the official news agency said on Monday that each family on social security will receive 1,000 riyals (Dh977) and every dependent in those families another 500 riyals.

“This generous gesture comes out of the Servant of the Two Holy Shrines’s concern to present everything that would provide ample living to the citizens,” the Saudi Press Agency said on Monday.

The Kingdom’s VAT rose threefold to 15 per cent on Sunday.

The cost of living allowance, which is given to students, retirees, all state employees and the military and security apparatus, will be suspended from June.

Finance minister Mohammad Al Jadaan said the tax increase and spending cuts are meant to offset the impact of the coronavirus and lower oil prices on state finances.

The number of confirmed infections in the kingdom reached 41,014 people after the authorities reported nearly 2,000 new cases on Monday. Among these, 255 have died, with the number of cases spiking over the last two weeks.

Reuters reported that total coronavirus cases in the six GCC states exceeded 100,000, based on official data.

Palestinian men talk in the centre of the occupied West Bank town of Hebron during the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

People board a bus at a station in Damascus, Syria on the first day of the government's decision to allow public and private transport to resume after an almost two-month stoppage. EPA

Palestinian Khaled Sheikh el-Eid, a Karate instructor, trains with his son on their home rooftop, amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Palestinian English programme students wear protective face masks as they take an end-of-year exam at their school in the occupied Gaza City. AFP

Palestinian bodybuilding trainer Muhammad Jaafreh practices during a training session on his building's roof with his student Abed Ghurayyib, as the gym is closed amid the lockdown in the village of Tarqumiah, north-west of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP

A man and his dog stand on an empty street during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA

Senior Turkish citizens who were not allowed to go out of their houses since April 4 enjoy a sunny day next to the sea, after being exempted from curfew for four hours, in Istanbul. Reuters

Worshippers attend the Sunday mass at the Roman Orthodox Saint Elias church in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Churches in Aleppo reopened after being closed down in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus. AFP

A dealer walks past a trade screen at the Amman Stock Exchange after it was reopened in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

Egyptian People walk through a sanitising gate at Cairo university after a repatriation flight from Kuwait in Giza, Egypt EPA

Egyptian people check their temperature at Cairo university after a repatriation flight from Kuwait in Giza, Egypt. EPA

A picture taken by a nurse at the Hotel Dieu de France Hospital, shows colleagues in the coronavirus section of the hospital, in the neighbourhood of Ashrafieh of the Lebanese capital Beirut's eastern suburbs. AFP

People queue in front of a shop to refill their gas cylinders in Kuwait City, a day after Kuwaiti authorities announced a 20-day total lockdown to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. AFP

Officials across the Arabian Gulf have been warning that the coronavirus could necessitate overhauls to the region’s oil-dependent economies and sought to minimise any backlash against the millions of migrant labourers in the region.

The Omani government said on Monday it has terminated the school year due to the coronavirus. A special cabinet committee decided that all classes in Oman ended from May 7.

The capital Muscat will remain sealed off from the rest of the country till at least May 29, Omani authorities said. Officially recognised cases in the sultanate rose by 174 to 3,573 on Monday.

Authorities in Kuwait said they have filed charges against  a man who appeared this week in a video on Facebook attacking a foreign worker at a petrol station, in a violent incident related to the coronavirus.

The Health Ministry reported nearly 600 new cases and seven deaths, bringing the respective totals to 9,286 and 65.

The Kuwaiti Emir, Sheikh Sabah, said on Saturday that the coronavirus-related drops in oil price would affect the solvency of the state and the government must take steps to contain public spending.

Sheikh Sabah said in an address to the country that Kuwait faced “a big and unprecedented challenge to preserve the safety and solidity of our national economy from the external shocks as a result of this contagion”.

Bahrain waived residency and visa renewal fees and extended permits to stay in the country till the end of the year. Those holding expired visas will be allowed to stay another three months without charge.