Saudi Arabia has launched a new $178 million (SAR670 million) initiative to help businesses in the kingdom defer loan instalments as a result of the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, authorities have announced.
According to local media reports, the Ministry of Finance’s corporate sustainability programme will ease loan requirements for a total of 192 companies in various sectors.
Collectively, these companies employ more than 20,000 Saudi nationals.
Mohammed Alomran, a financial analyst and president of the Gulf Centre for Financial Consultancy, was quoted in Arab News as saying that the “cash flow in these entities will be in a strong position in 2021 for repayment as scheduled.”
“As far as accessibility to new debt, I do not think this will be considered now as it will depend on the financial position of each entity next year,” he added.
“Given the nonstop flow of initiatives geared to stimulate the Saudi private sector, I think the ball now is in the court of the private sector to repay the local economy and society with increased spending and hiring of new Saudi youth.”
To date there have been over 235,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the kingdom, including over 2,200 deaths and more than 170,600 recoveries.
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