The Finance Ministry has cleared outstanding dues of private companies and contractors to the tune of SR 100 billion. In an interview with Al-Arabiya channel, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said the Saudi government was set to clear all arrears owed to the private sector without any obstacles. A Royal Decree had empowered the Finance Minister to take the necessary action to clear all delayed payments by the end of last year. Regarding cancellation of projects, he said the efficiency of the projects cancelled was in question and there was no justification for spending on them. He said there was a need for new projects in the health and education sectors, besides the building of roads. Al-Jadaan said issuing of debt instruments will depend on the market conditions, predicting the size of the issue to be close to SR 70 billion during 2017. In response to a question on proposals to impose a fee on expat remittances, he said the Kingdom was committed to the principle of free movement of capital in and out of the Kingdom, including the remittances to and from the country, in accordance with international norms and standards.
