“This ratio may go up to 50 percent during the coming few years if solutions to close the gap between revenue and expenditure are not found,” Dr. Fouad Amin Bougari, a founding member of the NCR, told Arab News on Tuesday.

Bougari, also a former member of the committee’s board of directors, said more than a million Saudi retirees were calling for the increase of their monthly pension to a minimum of SR5,000 so they could meet their daily expenses.

He said the committee had made this request some time ago to its honorary chairman Crown Prince Naif and hoped that the pensions would be reviewed.

Bougari also said the retirees demanded to be exempted from many charges, including recruitment fees of housemaids, passport renewal fees and others.

He said the retirees were unable to compete with young men and women for jobs, as many employers would not be willing to pay for their medical insurance. “The medication bills are consuming a big chunk of the retirees’ income because they are not medically insured,” he added.

Bougari asked the government to bear the cost of medical insurance for the retirees and said the government should look for new options in this area. He suggested a cooperative insurance for these citizens.

According to Bougari, the retirees who started looking for new jobs consisted of three categories: Those with sufficient experience, those who could work as consultants, and those who make their own private business.

A third category consists of uneducated laymen, such as soldiers and drivers, who are not qualified for any jobs other than working as security guards.

Two establishments are taking care of retirees in the Kingdom. The Pension Fund is aimed at government and military retirees. The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) is responsible for Saudi retirees from the private sector.

“Retirees from the two organizations are living in the same difficult conditions,” he said.

Bougari also called for annual increments for the retirees in the light of current price hikes, high rates of inflation and other factors adversely encroaching on their income. “The retirees are further burdened by additional costs such as the education fees of their children and the wedding costs of their daughters. Some of them have gone into deep debts, which are a real cause of worry for them,” he said.

Bougari estimated that about 100,000 men and women retire every year and called for future plans to improve the material and social comfort of retirees. “There is no complete data on the retirees at present. A database containing sufficient information about them should be created,” he added.