Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz approved on Wednesday an additional package of measures to help the private sector deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, announced Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan.
The package includes 50 billion riyals ($266 million) to accelerate payment of private sector dues, provide liquidity to several sectors and cover wages of those working in passenger transport, he said.
Another 47 billion riyals has been set aside for the health sector, to be disbursed as needed to build capacity, he added.
In March, Saudi Arabia allocated 70 billion riyals to support businesses and postponed some government fees and taxes. It said 9 billion riyals would be disbursed to cover part of the wages of private sector workers to deter layoffs.
The Kingdom has reported 493 more cases of the novel coronavirus and six deaths on Wednesday to take its total to 5,862 with 79 deaths.
