Middle East

Saudi King Salman Calls Off Royal Family’s Financial Grants

Sources say the Saudi King is cancelling Saudi princes’ financial grants and cutting their salaries as part of the country’s austerity plans.

According to a report by Young Journalists Club (YJC), as translated by IFP, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has cancelled all financial concessions given to princes of the royal family, and is paying only their monthly salaries.

He might also reconsider the staggering salaries of the Royal Family, the Arabic-language Ray al-Youm newspaper reported.

Earlier, due to the oil price slump, the Saudi King had decided to shrink the salaries of ministers and senior staff within the framework of austerity measures to tackle the costs of the war in Yemen and support for the terrorists in Syria.

He also called for a stop in foreign investments and started firing foreign workers.

Informed sources say the King has decided to cancel all financial concessions of the Princes and will only pay their monthly salaries.

According to the sources, it is not unlikely that the Saudi King decides to cancel paying the salaries to senior Saudi princes who have big plans of investment and hold bank accounts of hundreds of millions of dollars, as some of the princes’ money go beyond $1bn.

It is also stressed that Saudi Princes avoid any financial and political scandals in western countries, particularly in the US, because Riyadh is not ready to defend them due to dire foreign policy and relations.

According to this report, Saudi princes are accustomed to commit financial and sexual scandals in the West.

Riyadh is facing a critical situation, because, on the one hand, it has concerns about escalating domestic dissatisfactions, and on the other hand, its foreign relations, particularly with Egypt, are getting into crisis.

Also the relations between Riyadh and Washington have faced a severe crisis due to the approval of JASTA (the bill that allows the prosecution of Saudi Arabia in US courts over 9/11 attacks).

Saudi authorities are concerned about the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in the US as Washington might freeze the assets as compensation for the victims of 9/11 attacks.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.