Rumours of looming salary cuts denied

Saudi Arabia is not planning to trim public salaries, wages and allowances, state-run media reported Sunday, just days after an earlier government statement said efforts were being made to reduce such expenditures in the face of a nearly $39-billion deficit that is largely due to falling oil prices.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted an unnamed Finance Ministry official saying there is no validity to comments on social media that the government plans to cut wages.

On Thursday, an official statement carried on SPA in English said there would be “more efforts to reduce current expenditures, especially expenses of salaries, wages, allowances and the like.”