RIYADH: King Abdullah, Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, Wednesday issued a number of Royal Decrees which will see billions provided to citizens for housing, water and electricity bills, school items for their children, sports and recreation, professional pursuits and cheaper loans. It was also announced that students studying abroad at their own expense will now get financial support if they are studying subjects including science, technology and mathematics. The Royal Decrees are as follows: First Decree: n Support for the capital of Real Estate Development Fund with an additional amount of SR40 billion to enable it to meet the demands for loans. n Exemption of all the deceased people from the fund's loans installments for residential purposes. n Exemption of all borrowers from the Fund for residential purposes from two installments for a period of two years. n The Ministry of Finance shall compensate the Fund for the amounts of the exempted loans installments. Second Decree: n Increase of the capital of Saudi Credit and Saving Bank by an amount of SR20 billion and adding the previous deposit amounting to SR10 billion, dated 1429H, to the capital of the bank, so that the total capital increase amounted to SR30 billion. n Exemption of all the deceased people from the Bank's loan installments for social purposes. n Exemption of all borrowers from the Bank for social purposes from two installments for a period of two years. n The Ministry of Finance shall compensate the Bank for exempted loan installments. Third Decree: n Increase in the upper limit to the number of individuals of families covered by Social Security from 8 to 15 members and the allocation of an amount of SR10 billion for this purpose. n Activation of programs supporting social security including: productive families, furniture, bags and school uniforms, purchasing discount cards, support of electricity and water bills, and houses repairs, as well as allocation of SR3.5 billion for this purpose. n Expansion of services provided by Care and Social development and the allocation of SR1.2 billion for this purpose. n Increase of subsidies provided from the State to charities by 50% to become SR450 million per annum. n Support for cooperative societies with an amount of SR100 million per annum. n Establishment of Projects of Trade Franchise and Saudi Professional House at the National Charity Fund and allocation of an amount of SR10 billion per annum for this purpose. n Support for programs supporting the needy students at the Ministry of Education and the allocation of an amount of SR470 million per annum for this purpose. n Support to students from the needy families for enrolment at universities. Fourth Decree: n Support for General Housing Authority with an amount of SR15 billion. n The authority shall expedite awarding housing projects and report monthly on the progress of its works to the Royal Court. Fifth Decree: n Inclusion of all male and female students who are studying abroad at their own expenses in several specialties into The Program of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for Foreign Scholarships to obtain B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. degrees. The specialties include medicine, applied health sciences, pharmacy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer, law, accounting, and e-trade. Sixth Decree: n The Council of Ministers to tackle the problem of rising prices and high cost of living. The decision suggests a number of solutions to tackle this problem including approval of a cost of living allowance. Seventh Decree: n The Permanent Committee of the Supreme Economic Council shall arrange the inclusion of the allowance of high living costs by 15% into the basic salary during a maximum period of three months from the date of the issuance of the decree. Eighth Decree: n Creation of 300 jobs for General Auditing bureau. n Creation of 300 jobs for Control and Investigation Board. n Creation of 300 jobs for Saudi Commission for Investigation and Prosecution. n Creation of 300 jobs for the Royal Court and the Special Secretariat of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Ninth Decree: n Amnesty for prisoners of public rights according to certain conditions. n Payment for people indebted by financial rights according to certain conditions. n Payment for prisoners who shall pay blood-money as compensation fatal traffic accidents with certain conditions. Tenth Decree: n Providing support for all literary clubs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an amount of SR10 million for each club. n Providing support for sports clubs with an amount of SR10 million for each club from Premier League, SR5 million for each club from first division, and SR2 million for the rest of the officially registered sports clubs . 11th Decree: n Providing financial support for all licensed professional associations with an amount of SR10 million for each association. 12th Decree: n Approval of a financial bylaw to be named “Bylaw of Rights and Financial Privileges”. This is to be added to article “18/2” which defines the conditions for granting additional allowances for all ranks. The article stipulates that the number of employees who should be granted this allowance is 50 percent of the total employees who have been promoted to grade (rank) 10 and below. n The amount of indemnity, which is stipulated in article 27/1, is granted to an employee in case of his death, disability or deformity which prevents him from working. If the death or disability results from work then the value of the indemnity should be increased from SR60,000 to SR100,000. This should be granted to his inheritors in case of death. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Decrees: n The monthly transportation allowance to be increased from SR500 to SR700 for civil servants at ranks 1 to 5. A total of SR900 will be paid to employees at ranks 6 to 10 and SR1,200 to employees at ranks 11 to rank 14. 17th Decree: n This article defines the amendments regarding the end of service benefits for all civil servants. Full details are provided. 18th Decree: n Stipulates the formation of a higher committee comprising Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Minister of Education, Chairman of the Royal Court, and ministers of Finance, Labor, Civil Service, Higher Education, Economy and Planning, and Social Affairs, to tackle the problem of increasing numbers of university male and female graduates who are trained as teachers. The committee is tasked with finding employment for them in the light of limited vacancies at government schools. 19th Decree: n The Human Resources Fund is to provide temporary financial aid to youth looking for jobs. The aid should be provided from the Fund's reserves for an initial period not exceeding one year. Within this year, the Social Insurance Organization must carry out a study to replace foreign workers with national job seekers. n A study on the social security system is to be carried out to enable the General Organization of Social Security to work out a program for cooperative insurance for unemployed citizens. n To support Saudization, the Minister of Labor has to carry out an urgent and integrated study to accelerate these programs within a period not more than three months from the issuance of this decree. The study is to be referred to the Permanent Supreme Economic Council to review it within a maximum period of four months. n The recommendations in this regard are to be submitted for enforcement. n The Chief of the Royal Court shall follow this up and submit it to the King.
