Expat fees to be covered by government account for SAR 27 bln, says Jadwa

The total incremental cost of expatriates working in the industry sector to be covered by the Saudi government is expected to reach around SAR 27 billion for the period between 2019-2023, Jadwa Investment said in a report.

The industry sector employs 645,000 expats, representing 9.7 percent of total expats in the labor market.

The Saudi Cabinet decided lately to cover the incremental cost of expatriates working in all licensed industrial facilities for five years, as of Oct. 1, 2019.

The Kingdom began early January 2018 to apply new fees on foreign workers, in line with the Fiscal Balance Program launched end of 2017.

The fees set until January 2020 vary between SAR 300 and SAR 700 per month per employee, if the number of expats does not exceed the number of nationals, and between SAR 400 and SAR 800 if foreign workers number outweighs nationals.