Saudi Arabia pays SAR 525 bln of private sector bills

Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry said that it has paid SAR 525 billion dues under 345,000 invoices for 450 government-related entities until mid-September as the Kingdom seeks to settle delayed contractor dues, state-run news agency, SPA, reported.

A total of 125,000 invoices-- around 36 percent of total payments --were related to private sector companies.

The ministry pledged that all private sector payments will be settled within a 60-day time frame from receiving invoices.

Ninety-eight percent of all invoices representing 92 percent of total dues were paid within 45 days. Only 2 percent of invoices took longer than 60 days.

The ministry is developing a digital portal to enable quick and transparent payments to the private sector.  

Saudi Arabia’s construction sector was severely affected by the tumble in oil prices since mid-2014, which led the government to cancel or delay major projects and halt payments owed to contractors.

Hit by high debts, the Kingdom’s major contractors laid off thousands of workers and delayed wages, leading to protests in the country last year.