Saudi Arabia pledges 50bn riyal stimulus package to offset coronavirus impact – The National

Saudi Arabia pledges 50bn riyal stimulus package to offset coronavirus impact – The National

The UAE, Egypt and other countries around the world are rolling out schemes that aim to shore up their private sectors and economies. Saudi Arabia unveiled a 50 billion riyal (Dh48.9bn) stimulus package to shore up its private sector and offset the coronavirus's impact on the economy.. The Arab world's biggest economy introduced the Private Sector Financing Support Programme aimed at extending finance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate growth and preserve jobs, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama), said in a statement on Saturday.. "The purpose of the programme is to mitigate the impacts of precautionary coronavirus measures on the SME sector, specifically by reducing the burden of cash flow fluctuations, supporting working capital, enabling the sector to grow during the coming period and contributing to supporting economic growth and maintaining employment," the central bank said.. The Saudi package was rolled out at the same time as the Central Bank of the UAE announced a Dh100bn economic plan and Egypt unveiled a 100bn pound (Dh23.3bn) plan to mitigate the virus's impact on banks, the private sector and wider economy.. The Covid-19 outbreak is the greatest challenge facing the world economy since the 2008 global financial crisis.. Under