The study, conducted by the Research and Consultancy Establishment in collaboration with website Bayt.com, said 52 percent was optimistic that the Saudi economy would improve in a year.
The study said 40 percent of those questioned expected jobs opportunities to be plentiful in a short time while 48 percent doubted there would be any significant change in the economic situation. They also said there would not be enough job openings.
The study said 52 percent of Saudis and residents dispelled the idea of buying a car in the next 12 months while 56 percent of the Saudis said they were not considering to invest in real estate or buy a house in a year’s time. Meanwhile, Ahmad Babqi, an economic researcher, said the rise in the international prices of foodstuffs during the last three years had also hiked the cost of living of a number of Saudis and expatriates, given that their incomes had remained the same or marginally increased over the same period.
He said low-income citizens and expatriates, who were hardly making SR5,000 a month, were the most affected by the rise in price of international commodities. The economist warned that if foodstuffs were not subsidized to contain the constant rises in prices, many people would be adversely affected.
Riza Abdul Salam, a salesman at a supermarket in Jeddah, said prices of many commodities increased by up to 60 percent in the last three years.
Obaid Al-Hazmi, an employee in a land transport company, said he used to save from his SR5,000 salary, including fringe benefits, only two years ago, but now he could barely make ends meet.
