The minister made this comment while speaking to reporters in Riyadh about the impact of the 17 measures adopted by the Cabinet last Monday to offset the effect of rising prices and inflation on the lives of Saudis and expatriates.
Al-Assaf estimated the additional annual spending at SR10 billion as a result of the payment of five percent inflation allowance and 10 percent additional allocation for social insurance.
“Naturally this amount will increase further in the next two years as a result of the growth in the number of employees and their salaries,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying.
He said civilian and military officers and pensioners would receive the five percent annual inflation allowance along with the salary of the month of Safar. “It will also include the allowance for Muharram,” he explained.
Beneficiaries of social insurance will also receive the additional payment effective from Muharram, the minister said, adding that in the month of Safar they will get the payment for two months.
He said the advisory body of the Supreme Economic Council gave its proposals to the Cabinet on how to confront price hike and inflation after studying various options. “It finally resulted in the Cabinet approving 17 measures,” he pointed out.
Al-Assaf said the new measures would benefit not only government employees but all citizens and residents in the Kingdom. “While adopting this set of integrated measures, the government also took into consideration that it should not put additional pressure on prices.”
The minister said no other country had taken such vital steps at one time to contain prices and reduce the effect of inflation. He also referred to previous measures taken by the government such as subsidies for rice and baby milk and support for water and electricity sectors.
“During the last two weeks, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered payment of SR650 million to beneficiaries of social insurance. He also ordered assistance in kind worth SR1.2 billion to people suffering from extreme cold weather in different regions. The main beneficiaries were people with low income,” he explained. The Ministry of Social Affairs distribute about SR830 million monthly to beneficiaries of social insurance.
