The General Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Affairs deems salary payment to bank accounts of its workers detrimental to their interests. The Presidency maintains that such bank transfer, even for pensioners, is the main cause for the current dire financial situation of many individuals to the extent that it has become “a national social and economic disaster,” the Arabic newspaper Al-Watan reported. The Presidency's stand was revealed in its response to the Board of Grievances looking into a complaint by the Presidency's employees. The employees had complained that the Presidency was refusing to remit their salaries into their local accounts. They said they wanted the bank transfer because only then can they get bank loans, especially for the government housing project of Masakin. The Presidency's response was made by its representative, Dr. Yousif Bin Abdullah Al-Wabil. Using numbers, statistics and English financial terms, Al-Wabil made his argument on why it is better to hand over salaries in cash. Citing also historical inference, he said bank loans were the cause of tears in thousands of Saudi homes. Al-Wabil said mindless borrowing has exceeded a third of Gross National Product (GNP) – excluding oil and gas sectors – within a short period. Use of bank loans for consumption or stock market speculation has aggrieved thousands of homes, he said. Saudi banks, flush with funds as an offshoot of high oil revenues, have in recent years been generous with giving out loans. All a person needs to do to get a loan is to have his salary transferred to the lending bank, which will automatically make the monthly loan deductions. It's a standard banking practice followed in most countries. The problem arises, however, when loan repayments – for house, car, credit cards, etc. and bills – electricity, phone – exhaust the borrower's monthly salary deposited in his account. __
