Contractors paid on time: Saudi finance minister

All government contractors get paid on time when they complete the required procedure for their payments, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told Al Arabiya on Saturday.

“I challenge anyone to prove that a complete request for funds to the finance ministry has not been appropriated within a week,” he said.

Some government departments in Saudi Arabia blame the finance inistry for unfinished government projects due to delays in appropriating funds for contractors. Contractors who work on projects for the government have previously complained that they do not receive their payments on time, which results in delays in finishing these projects.

Saudi finance minister al-Assaf admitted that such delays happen, but he blamed the contractors for underestimating what it takes to handle government projects.

“Some contractors bid for projects bigger than their capability which results in delays,” the minister said, adding that the issue is constantly under review.

“There are instructions by King Abdullah to expedite projects,” he said. “When we get appropriation requests at the [Finance] Ministry, we allocate funds for them on the same week.”