RIYADH – The Saudi Labour Ministry has said it will introduce a program to boost its domestic economy by restricting expatriates from sending back home amounts of money larger than their official salaries, Arab News reported.
After being declared as the world’s second largest remittance source country byt World Bank in December, with outflows estimated at $37 billion in 2014, Saudi authorities have now decided to control the flow of money out of the country
The government has already proposed a 6 percent tax on remittances sent abroad – though the plans have caused an uproar.
The new initiative to link remittances with income via expats’ bank accounts has been proposed by the Finance Ministry, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and other bodies.
The regulations are expected to be launched soon and will contribute towards the ending of “violations that increase the illegal income of expats,” the newspaper said.
