Saudi Shura members welcome pay cuts

Saudi Shura Council members have welcomed King Salaman’s decision to cut salaries and allowances of government ministers and members of the appointed consultative body.

The decision is believed to target high-income employees while regular citizens will only sacrifice the annual raise for this year, Al Hayat Newspaper reported.

Fahd Bin Gomaa, a Shura council member, said that homeland security is not measured by money but by lives as our forefathers lived in poverty defending the kingdom’s unity.

Another member, Ahmed Al Mefreh, said that the new decisions represent “an economic packet storm”, (in a reference to the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen which are called packets storm) and urged Saudis to support resolutions to increase fees for some services and reduce subsidies due to the current economic need.

On Monday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued royal decrees to cut salaries and allowances of government ministers and members of the appointed consultative body, the Shura Council, as part of the kingdom’s efforts to reign in government spending, according to data compiled by Argaam.