In a bid to treat the “oil illness” (a 2 year long crisis of low oil prices) and its aftermath, the Saudi Arabian government has hiked visa charges, fines, taxes, and other government fees sharply. The move is part of the government’s action plan which focuses on increasing revenues from non-oil sectors. It targets non-oil income of 530bn riyals by 2020, up from the current 163.5bn riyals.
Know more about the hike:
- The new policy has increased the cost of six-month visas for foreign nationals to USD 800, a six-fold increase. The hike in visa fees will be effective from October 2016. With this move, it will be an expensive affair for Saudi employers to hire foreign employees and hence, they will be left with the option of employing Saudi graduates. This supports the government’s plan of filling private sector organisations with Saudi nationals.
- Annual tax of up to 2,300 riyals will be payable by foreign residents.
- Fines for traffic violations including “tafheet” (which means illegally racing, drifting and spinning cars at high speeds on highways) have been raised. Drivers caught for the first time will be charged USD 5,332.
- Billboard advertisement fees have been increased three times.
- Energy and utilities charges in Riyadh have already been raised.
Other government measures include:
- Plans to cut expenditure on public sector wages by 5%.
- Plans to draw more revenues by means of indirect taxes including value-added tax.
Recently, Saudi Arabia sliced oil prices for exports in Europe and Asia due to competitive pressure from Iran, Iraq and Russia. However, the country is optimistic about its future economic stability, thanks to the new Asian customers it has earned. Also, Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco is set to continue with its drilling and IPO process.
No comments:
Post a Comment