JEDDAH, 2 June 2003 — A recent GCC study has called to encourage expatriate workers in the Kingdom to bring their families to increase their spending within the country and cut their overseas remittances, which are estimated at SR80 billion a year.
The study, prepared by the economic affairs section at the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh, found that the presence of families would considerably reduce remittances of the country’s seven million expatriates.
The study also urged the government to lift the restrictions on expatriates’ investment in the Kingdom to make use of their funds for investment projects.
According to Al-Riyadh newspaper, expatriate workers transferred nearly SR915 billion over the 25 years from 1975 to 2001.
The study, financed by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, urged the government to develop suitable measures to increase expatriate spending in the country.
The study, which was completed in April this year, proposed that expatriates should be allowed to move freely within the Kingdom and called on the government to reduce restrictions on recruitment of their families.
