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'Expats' pay went up 25% under Nitaqat'

July 18, 2014

Nitaqat ExpatsJeddah, Jul 18: The salaries of expatriates in the private sector rose by 25 percent while those of Saudis declined by 1 percent during 2013, according to a report published by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily on Thursday, quoting figures released by the Labor Ministry and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).

“The salaries of expats during the year rose by 25 percent or SR236 from an average salary of SR1,341 in 2012 to SR1,808 in 2013,” the report said. The average salary received by Saudis in the sector fell by one percent from SR4,801 in 2012 to SR4,748 in 2013.

Speaking with Arab News, Ibrahim Badawood, managing director of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Services, voiced his doubts about the accuracy of the salary hikes for expatriates. However, he said that if this was the case, it might be due to three reasons.

“First, it is very difficult to get visas to recruit foreign workers. Second, red-category firms have to increase salaries if they want to keep their foreign workers. Third, Saudis are not ready to do certain jobs and those expats doing these jobs may be asking for higher salaries,” he said.

Saudis receive more than double the salary received by expats in all job categories. For secretarial jobs their average salary is SR4,300 against SR1,640 for expats, sales jobs SR3,200 against SR1,200 for expats and assistant engineering jobs SR4,800 against SR1,000 for expats.

Expats contacted by Arab News expressed their astonishment over the huge salary divide between Saudis and expats, saying it’s unfair. “Salaries should be based on productivity rather than nationality,” said one expat.

According to the SAMA report, the average salary of employees in the private sector is SR2,962. However, the ministry’s statistics put it at SR2,134, a difference of SR828.

The report stated that the number of Saudis working in the private sector rose by 29 percent or 332,200 in 2013 with Saudi women taking 85 percent or 182,700 jobs, with Saudi men at 16 percent or 149,500.

The total number of Saudi women working in the sector rose from 215,800 to 398,500 in 2013 while that of Saudi men jumped from 918,800 to 1.1 million.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Paris, Feb 5: Saudi Arabia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a poultry farm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday, February 4.

The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed 22,700 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Saudi agriculture ministry.

The other 385,300 birds in the flock were slaughtered, it said.

The case was the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Cairo, May 20: A senior Kuwaiti lawmaker has called for imposing a tax on expatriates’ remittances to shore up the country’s finances.

MP Khalil Al Saleh, the head of the parliament’s Human Resources Committee, has presented a draft law on the proposed tax to the legislature.

“Imposing fees on expatriates’ transfers will have a role in improving the state's revenues and diversify sources of income,” he told Al Rai newspaper.

Migrant workers transfer about 4.2 billion dinars annually from Kuwait, he added, citing figures from Kuwait’s Central Bank.

“This system is in effect in most countries of the world and in more than one Gulf country. Expats there have not objected to it. Allowing this money to exit the country is very dangerous and has a direct effect on economy,” MP Al Saleh said.

“We do not target brotherly expats because imposing symbolic fees on financial transfers will not affect their money, but will have a positive effect on the state’s sources,” he said. “This has become a necessity after the money transferred outside Kuwait has reached 4.2 billion dinars annually without the state [Kuwait] making any benefit from this.”

Foreign workers make up 3.3 million of Kuwait’s 4.6 million population.

Several Kuwaiti public figures have recently pushed for redrawing the demographic imbalance in the country, accusing expatriates of straining health facilities and increasing the Covid-19 threat.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Dubai, May 10: Kuwait will enact a "total curfew" from 4pm (1300 GMT) on Sunday through to May 30 to help to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the Information Ministry said on Twitter on Friday.

Further details of the curfew will be announced soon, it said.

Kuwait on April 20 expanded a nationwide curfew to 16 hours a day, from 4pm to 8am, and extended a suspension of work in the public sector, including government ministries, until May 31.

On Friday the Gulf state announced 641 new coronavirus cases and three deaths, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 7,208, with 47 deaths.

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