Saudi mufti backs temporary austerity

Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority urged citizens to support government austerity measures, saying recent decrees were temporary moves necessitated by public interest, the Saudi Okaz newspaper reported today.

King Salman, in one of the most drastic measures to save money, ordered the salaries of ministers and Shura Council members, the kingdom’s formal advisory committee, to be cut this week by 20 and 15 per cent respectively, while scaling back financial perks for public sector employees.

Okaz quoted Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Al-Sheikh as saying that the recent orders were necessitated by special conditions would not be in place forever.

“Cooperation and helping the state in what it sees to be in the public interest and honest vision is necessary,” Okaz quoted Al-Sheikh as saying in his weekly radio address on Wednesday.

The plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 has pushed energy-rich Arab Gulf states to rein in lavish public spending. Saudi Arabia racked up a record budget deficit of nearly $100 billion last year, forcing it to find new savings and ways to raise money.