JEDDAH – The government freeze on perks and allowances as part of its austerity measures encouraged many civil servants and their families to reduce spending to adjust with the falling revenue. Now the government has restored these perks and allowances and Al-Riyadh Arabic daily conducted a survey, contacting citizens across the country, to know whether the decision has changed their spending habits. Abdul Razaq Bin Nouh said he had learned a big lesson from the freeze on allowances on how to rationalize spending to cope with economic austerity measures. "It taught me the need to change my calculations, make priorities and reduce spending," Nouh said, adding that he had received good cooperation from family members. "We stopped purchasing unnecessary things and we have been very selective in shopping," he added. He emphasized that he would continue to follow a culture of rationalized spending even after the restoration of allowances. "We'll not return back to disorganized and irrational spending," he said. Asir Al-Shahri said he and his family had found it difficult to acclimatize with the changing situation caused by austerity measures as the family was accustomed with uncontrolled spending. "I have been following the principle: Spend what is in your pocket, although it's wrong." Maha Mohammed said the period during which the government stopped paying allowances was enough for Saudi families to review their spending habits. However, she feared that people would return to overspending and extravagance when they have more money. "There are many people who have not learned any lesson from austerity," she told Al-Riyadh. Speaking about her plan on how to make use of the allowances, she said: "I would open a bank account to save that amount because I regret that I did not save any money during the past 10 years. If we review our spending, we can find most of our purchases were unnecessary." Riyad Al-Rushaidi said restoration of allowances gives Saudis an opportunity to save money to spend on essential things. "A wise man will practice the lessons he has learned in his life," he said, adding that he would save part of the allowances for future spending. Ibrahim Aseeri said he was careful in spending in order to protect himself from falling into the trap of bank loans. Khaled Al-Suhail, a journalist, said austerity measures had affected the budget of many families. "Many Saudis still lack a culture of saving money," Al-Suhail told the Arabic daily. He said a study was required to know the spending habits of Saudis before, during and after the austerity measures. "I believe that people will return to excessive spending after restoration of allowances and I pray to be wrong," he added. However, Al-Suhail pointed out that some people have changed their spending habits when the government cut down allowances. "We should change purchasing habits drastically to save money for important and essential needs. Many people still purchase more than what they require. What we need today is to keep away from extravagance," he added. It is unfortunate that people spend money lavishly during the holy month of Ramadan, ignoring the spirit of the fasting month as well as teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Aliya Al-Shalhoub, who writes on economic issues, emphasized the need to have a balance between revenue and spending. She said many families revised their budgets when the government stopped giving allowances. She called for a campaign to enlighten the public on rational spending. Total government spending on allowances reached SR79 billion, which is part of SR488 billion spent on salaries of employees annually, Al-Shalhoub said and urged Saudis to save the restored allowances for important projects. "Vision 2030 demands rational spending by citizens," she added.
