Budget 2018-19

The directives will allow direct entry of fully vaccinated expatriates without the need to spend 14 days in transit outside their countries before entering the Kingdom Saudi Arabia has announced that it will lift a travel ban on expats from six countries including India and Pakistan that was introduced to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The directives will allow direct entry of fully vaccinated expatriates without the need to spend 14 days in transit outside their countries before entering the Kingdom, Arab News reported.  Saudi Arabia ‘s Ministry of Interior issued the directive saying that changes will commence at 1 am on December 1. The English-language newspaper said that expats arriving from these countries must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their Coronavirus vaccination status outside the Kingdom. Earlier in February, the direct entry ban was imposed due to a global spike in Covid-19 caThe ban covered Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, the U...

  The Saudi money will help Pakistan shore up its foreign reserves, which have been shrinking. Pakistan’s currency bounced back on Wednesday to gain 2.48 rupees against the US dollar in intra-day trading, after long-time ally  Saudi Arabia  announced a support package of $4.2 billion, traders and bankers said. The Saudi money will help  Pakistan  shore up its foreign reserves, which have been shrinking. The rupee closed the previous session at 175.60 against the dollar. It had depreciated around 13.6 per cent since May. “The rupee appreciation is result of the Saudi funding announcement, widely seen as a positive surprise much needed to bolster the external account,” Saad Hashemy, executive director at BMA Capital, said. Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday $3 billion to support Pakistan’s foreign reserves, as well as extending financing of oil derivatives trade for a total of $1.2 billion during the year, Pakistan’s Information Min­ister Fawad Chaudhry s...

  A former senior Saudi security official who helped oversee joint US counterterrorism efforts made the claims in an interview A former senior Saudi security official who helped oversee joint US counterterrorism efforts claimed in an interview with “60 Minutes” that the kingdom’s crown prince once spoke of killing a sitting Saudi monarch before his own father was crowned king.  Saad al-Jabri  did not provide evidence to the CBS News program, which aired Sunday. The ex-intelligence official, who resides in exile in Canada, claimed that in 2014, Prince Mohammed boasted that he could kill King Abdullah. At the time, Prince Mohammed held no senior role in government but was serving as gatekeeper to his father’s royal court when his father was still heir to the throne. King Salman ascended to the throne in January 2015 after his half-brother,   King Abdullah, died of stated natural causes. Al-Jabri used the interview to warn  Prince Mohammed bin Salman  that he’...

  Total revenue was 58.2 billion riyals ($15.5 billion), down from 80.8 billion riyals a year earlier, according to a statement from the General Authority for Statistics Saudi Arabia’s exports fell by more than a quarter in November compared with a year ago, driven by another drop in oil demand. Total revenue was 58.2 billion riyals ($15.5 billion), down from 80.8 billion riyals a year earlier, according to a statement from the General Authority for Statistics. Oil exports fell 39.8 per cent during the month. Meanwhile, Iraq plans to cut oil output in January and February to make up for breaching its OPEC+ quota last year, according to the state company that markets the nation’s crude. OPEC’s second-biggest producer will pump around 3.6 million barrels daily for the two months, according to Ali Nizar, the deputy head of SOMO. That would be the lowest level since 2015 and compares with around 3.85 million in December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Exports, including those...

  Saudi Arabia has halted all international flights for a week amid fears over a highly infectious new mutant strain of the novel coronavirus which has been discovered in Britain Saudi Arabia has halted all international flights for a week amid fears over a highly infectious new mutant strain of the novel coronavirus which has been discovered in Britain, an Interior Ministry source has confirmed. The ban, which came into effect on Sunday, also applies to entry of passengers to the Kingdom through land and sea ports, Gulf News quoted the source as saying. “These procedures will be reviewed in light of the developments related to the pandemic, and what is received from the Ministry of Health,” the source said in a statement. Foreign flights that are currently in the Saudi territory will be exempt and will be allowed to leave, the source said. The source further said that the Saudi ban excludes movement of goods, commodities and supply chains from countries where the mutated virus has...

  The map shows a border between Pakistan and the region. So far, there was no reaction from the Pakistan government In its new 20 riyal banknote to mark the Saudi presidency of the G-20 summit next month, the Kingdom has removed Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan’s map. The banknote on its back carries a world map showing G-20 members in a darker shade The map shows a border between Pakistan and the region. So far, there was no reaction from the Pakistan government. Pakistan’s ties with Saudi Arabia, one of its closest allies, have been strained over the past couple of years, especially since the Kingdom’s “lukewarm” response to the Indian government scrapping provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution. According to  Pakistani  media, Saudi Arabia’s increasing proximity with India and Israel is assumed to be one of the reasons for the changing dynamics of the Saudi-Pakistan diplomatic relationship. Media reports say that Saudi Arabia’s ...

  Among the historic deals signed in Bahrain’s capital Manama was a Joint Communique on Establishment of Diplomatic, Peaceful and Friendly Relations between the two countries, BNA said Bahrain and Israel signed a series of key agreements covering bilateral relations, agriculture, trade, civil aviation, telecommunications and financial services, state Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported. Among the historic deals signed in Bahrain’s capital Manama was a Joint Communique on Establishment of Diplomatic, Peaceful and Friendly Relations between the two countries, BNA said on Sunday. An agreement on visa exemption for nationals of both countries was also included, it added. Present at the signing ceremony were Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat and its Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz, Xinhua news agency reported. The US and Israeli delegations arrived in Manama earlier in the...