It is unbelievable yet it is also true. About half the population of Saudi Arabia have bought shares in the Bank Albilad over the past three weeks. According to official figures from the bank itself and from SAMBA that organized the sale, 7.5 million Saudis have bought shares, pumping an amazing SR7 billion into the bank’s coffers.

On Monday, a report published in Al-Hayat, a Saudi newspaper, said that mistakes had been made in last year’s census. The reason given was that some citizens with newborn babies had not recorded the infants’ names in the family ID when the census was taken. According to the report, the citizens decided to record the children’s names within the past three weeks. The reason? By adding their children’s names to the family ID cards, they would be allowed to buy more shares in the Bank Albilad.

A recent visit to the Riyadh Civil Affairs building was a shocking experience. One visitor who arrived about 10 a.m. wanted a number in order to wait his turn but was told that all the numbers had been taken at 7:30 that morning. Another visitor said his number was in the 700s and though he had visited the office for some work only a few months earlier, he had never in his life seen such a crowd in the building.

It was evident what was going on. Thousands of citizens were pouring in to register their young children’s names on their ID family cards. Census or no, they did not care. To them, all that mattered was that they get as many bank shares as was legally possible.

If thousands of citizens did not bother to register their newborn children in Riyadh and thousands of others did not register theirs in Jeddah, and Dammam — to say nothing of all the other cities, towns and villages — then our census definitely needs to be taken again.

Even leaving aside the matter of registered and unregistered infants, the official census figures published in our newspapers do not make sense.

In 1992, for example, we were told that the population of Saudi Arabia was 21 million — including non-Saudis. Thirteen years later we are told that the population, again including non-Saudis, is 22.7 million. Is it possible that the increase has been only 1.7 million in 13 years? Bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia has one of the highest birthrates in the world, such a figure is surely impossible. One does not have to be a genius or a mathematical wizard to be aware of how overcrowded our cities have become in the last 13 years.

Something is seriously wrong. Either the correct figures are hidden somewhere in a drawer or the people of Saudi Arabia have become so uncaring that they will not even ask the questions that need to be asked.

The contradiction was already evident. A report published in a local daily and in Arab News said that Riyadh now has a population of four million. Ten years ago, the city’s population was three million or less. So what about the figures for Jeddah, Dammam, Abha, Madinah, Qassim, and other major cities and towns?

The people’s obsession to buy into Bank Albilad and the new mobile phone operator, Ettihad Etisalat, has other unsettling implications if one looks carefully: Average middle class citizens are looking for profits, even if they are peanuts. Like Etisalat, which was 74 times oversubscribed due to the enormous demand, the bank is likely to give only three shares to all subscribers with each share worth SR50. In other words, people who thought they could buy dozens of shares should not let their hopes soar. All money beyond SR150 for the three shares will be returned to the buyers’ bank accounts. Most people knew this but they still flocked to buy. What they had in mind was selling their shares for from SR300 to SR400 a share and making a profit of perhaps SR1050.

If you, your wife and children all bought shares, the profit then could easily run to something between SR4,000 and SR6,000. It all depends on how many children a man has including infants. The bottom line? All this hassle, chaos and obsession for SR4,000 or a little more after a long wait that could stretch into months. If seven million Saudis, the majority of whom are heads of families, are in serious need of a few thousand riyals and are willing to wait months for that amount, that tells you a great deal.

It tells us that our middle class is not as well off as it was in the 1970s or 80s. The average Saudi family, it seems, is struggling to stay afloat.

Isn’t it about time the government increased the salaries of government employees? For 25 years, wages and salaries have not increased at all in Saudi Arabia while over the same period, expenses have tripled. And the Ministry of Finance maintains a stony silence. Better to buy and sell shares than to accost arriving passengers at airports with, “Could I give you a ride, my friend?” For SR50 of course.