Coronavirus: King Salman issues new economic initiatives to support private sector

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued a new order approving a package of economic initiatives to support the private sector during the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

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The stimulus package will include exemptions, relief measures, and accelerating payment of dues, SPA said.

The new initiative comes as an extention to King Salman’s royal order to disburse 9 billion riyals ($2.4 billion) to pay part of the wages of private-sector employees to deter companies from laying off their staff, which was issued earlier this month, according to SPA.

The Kingdom has also previously launched a 120 billion riyal ($31.9 billion) stimulus package, as well as other initiatives to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus on the economy.

Saudi Arabia has reported 5,369 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 73 virus-related deaths so far.

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