Social welfare: Kingdom ranks first in Arab world

Saudi Arabia has ranked first among Arab countries and 10th worldwide for countries with a declining poverty rate, according to a report published by the US Central Intelligence Agency.
“Social security has more than 106 offices throughout the country, and the groups that are offered assistance include orphans, widows, divorcees and others,” Mohammed Abdullah Al-Aqlaa, undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, was quoted as saying by Alarabiyah.
He said: “The pensions provided amount to nearly SR1.2 billion monthly, and there are more than 850,000 citizen card holders who receive their pensions at ATM machines.”
He also said families receive assistance from various programs.
Last year, programs offered more than SR9 billion in aid, and this year nearly SR8 billion, in addition to food aid, electricity, and educational assistance.
More than 2 million citizens are beneficiaries of the program.
It is noteworthy that the poverty rate has reached 12 percent of the total population, according to the proportion of the number of beneficiaries of the Social Security program to the total Saudi population.
This value included more than 2.5 million citizens at a rate of SR860 monthly (nearly $8 a day), which is more than three times the international standard of poverty.