Riyadh – Mubasher: Expats remittances from Saudi Arabia declined 17.7% year-on-year, or SAR 2.2 billion, by the end of January 2018, compared to the same month a year earlier.
Month-on-month, foreign workers' remittances from the oil-rich kingdom slid 26%, or SAR 3.7 billion, by the first month of this year, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) data.
Expatriates remittances from the OPEC powerhouse levelled down 6.7% to SAR 141.7 billion last year, down from SAR 151.9 billion in the year before.
Remittances of expatriates reached SAR 14.04 billion in December 2017, compared to SAR 13.5 billion in the corresponding month the prior year.
As of 2018, the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) started collecting fees from expatriates who work in the private sector by SAR 300 to SAR 400.
On the other hand, Saudi citizens’ money transfers jumped 24.7%, or SAR 1.2 billion, to SAR 6.2 billion during January 2018.
On a monthly basis, the transfers went up 2%.
The money transfers of Saudis stood at SAR 65.3 billion during 2017, compared to SAR 59.6 billion a year earlier.
