Expat fees to remain unchanged, says Saudi finance ministry

Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry said that fees imposed on expatriates and their dependents in Saudi Arabia remain unchanged.

The ministry has not announced any postponement in implementing of the fees, it added in a statement and denied such reports on social media.

As for finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan’s recent remarks about the economic reforms, the statement said that they related to possible amendments on the Financial Balance Program and they would be announced ahead of the 2018 budget.

Al-Jadaan had said that eliminating the deficit by 2020 was not a target, as the aim was to achieve sustainable economic reform in the medium term. He added that it was possible to extend the goal of Financial Balance to 2023 to maintain an appropriate growth rate.

According to data compiled by Argaam, the finance minister said a few days ago that the government could slow down the pace of some economic reforms by three, four, or five years as needed.