Param
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Saudi Arabia considers plan to restrain expat remittances - The Times of India
JEDDAH (SAUDI ARABIA): Saudi Arabia is seriously thinking of imposing some kind of curbs on the huge amount flowing out through expatriate employees in the country. It may suggest a limit in foreign workers' remittance out of the country in which they constitute nearly one third of population. Concern over expats' remittance arose especially after the central bank data had disclosed that the amount transferred outside the country in the second quarter of the current year was $7.1bn which is equivalent to 17 percent of Saudi Arabia's current account surplus at a time of historically high oil revenues.
Saudi Arabia is keen to use more of its monetary resources domestically under a $130bn government spending plan announced this year. It also wants to develop its economy reducing its reliance on oil revenue. As some observers have remarked - "the Saudi economy has gone through a number of rough patches over the decades without compromising the basic stability of the monetary situation."