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Reuters
RIYADH
Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a royal decree on Saturday restoring financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel that had been cut under austerity measures.
"The royal order returns all allowances, financial benefits, and bonuses to civil servants and military staff,"said the decree, broadcast on state-run Ekhbariya TV. In September Saudi Arabia cut ministers'salaries by 20 percent and scaled back financial perks for public sector employees in one of the energy-rich kingdom's most drastic measures to save money at a time of low oil prices.
The measures were the first pay cuts for government employees, who make up about two-thirds of working Saudis.
The decree cancelled those orders, saying they had come as a response to the sharp drop in the price of oil, the main source of state revenues.
Minister of State Mohammed Alsheikh said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as chairman of the Council for Economic and Development affairs, recommended the reinstatement of allowances after an official review and better-than-expected budgetary performance in the first quarter of 2017.
