作者：

Reuters, Spa/Riyadh

Saudi Arabia made the announcement on Monday.

沙特阿拉伯周一宣布了这一消息。

Saudi Arabia's government is suspending the cost of living allowance and raising the value added tax (VAT) threefold, as part of measures aimed to shore up state finances, which have been battered by low oil prices and the coronavirus.

沙特阿拉伯政府正在暂停生活津贴成本，并将增值税提高三倍，这是旨在支持国家财政的措施的一部分，这些措施受到低油价和冠状病毒的打击。

"Cost of living allowance will be suspended as of June first, and VAT will be increased to 15 per cent from 5 per cent as of July first," the state news agency reported on Monday.

国家通讯社周一报道说：“生活津贴将从6月1日起暂停，增值税将从7月1日的5％增加到15％。”

Mohammad Aljadaan, The Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Planning, highlighted the importance of the measures undertaken to protect the Saudi economy and overcome the unprecedented financial and economic ramifications of the global Covid-19 pandemic in the best way possible, stressing that these measures complement previously made decisions to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis from a health perspective, as well as economically and socially.

财政部长兼经济与计划代理部长穆罕默德·阿尔哈达安（Mohammad Aljadaan）强调了采取措施保护沙特经济并以最佳方式克服全球Covid-19大流行所带来的前所未有的金融和经济影响的重要性，并强调指出：这些措施从健康角度以及经济和社会角度补充了先前制定的旨在减轻危机负面影响的决策。

The Minister added that the government is committed to taking necessary and timely measures to protect citizens and residents, as well as the economy to mitigate the effects of the crisis and its ramifications. The Minister emphasized that the crisis caused by the global pandemic resulted in three economic shocks, each of which could in itself have an extremely negative effect on the performance and stability of public finance had the government not intervened by taking measures to absorb them.

部长补充说，政府致力于采取必要和及时的措施，以保护公民和居民以及经济，以减轻危机及其后果的影响。这位部长强调说，由全球大流行引起的危机导致了三场经济冲击，如果政府不采取措施吸收这些冲击，每一次冲击本身可能会对公共财政的绩效和稳定性产生极其不利的影响。

Decline in oil demand

The Minister explained that due to the precautionary measures undertaken worldwide to combat the pandemic, the first economic shock was the unprecedented decline in oil demand, which led to lower oil prices and a sharp decline in oil revenue that represents a main source of public revenue for the state budget.

石油需求下降

部长解释说，由于在世界范围内采取了预防流行病的预防措施，第一个经济冲击是石油需求的空前下降，这导致油价下跌和石油收入的急剧下降，这是造成这种情况的主要来源。国家预算的公共收入。

Economic shocks

Secondly, the necessary precautionary measures undertaken to protect the lives of citizens and residents and to prevent the spread of the pandemic have led to the suspension or reduction of many local economic activities, which had a negative impact on non-oil revenue and economic growth.

经济影响

第二，采取了必要的预防措施，以保护公民和居民的生活并防止大流行的蔓延，导致许多当地经济活动被暂停或减少，这对非石油收入和经济增长产生了负面影响。

The third economic shock was the unplanned expenses that required government intervention by increasing provisions for the healthcare sector to support the preventative and treatment capacity of health services, in addition to the adoption a number of initiatives to support the economy, mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic and maintain jobs for citizens.

第三次经济冲击是计划外支出，除了采取了一系列支持经济，减轻贫困的经济影响的举措外，政府还需要政府干预，增加对医疗保健部门的支持以支持医疗服务的预防和治疗能力。大流行并维持公民的工作。

Reduction in expenditures

减少支出

The Minister stated that these challenges combined have led to a decline in public revenue and exerted pressure on public finances in a way that could not be dealt with later without causing harm to the overall economy of the Kingdom in the midsummer and long-term. Therefore, further reduction in expenditures is needed, as well as undertaking measures that support the stabilization of non-oil revenues.

这位部长说，这些挑战加在一起导致公共收入下降，并给公共财政施加了压力，这种压力以后无法解决，而不会在仲夏和长期内损害王国的整体经济。因此，需要进一步减少支出，并采取措施来稳定非石油收入。

Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy and Planning have presented these financial and economic developments and the proposed measures to tackle them; and a directive has been issued to undertake the most suitable and least harming measures.

因此，财政部和经济计划部介绍了这些金融和经济发展情况以及解决这些问题的拟议措施；并且已经发布了一项指令，以采取最合适，危害最小的措施。

The impact of the approved measures is around 100 billion Saudi riyals; including cancelling, extending, or postponing some operational and capital expenditures for some government agencies, as well reducing provisions for initiative of a number of Vision Realization Programs and major projects for the fiscal year (1441-1442) -(2020).

批准的措施的影响约为1000亿沙特里亚尔；包括取消，延长或推迟某些政府机构的一些运营和资本支出，以及减少针对一些财年实现计划和重大项目（1441-1442）-（2020）的倡议拨款。

Cost of living allowance discontinued

生活津贴停止发放

In addition, the cost-of-living allowance shall be discontinued as of June 2020 and VAT shall increase from 5 per cent to 15 per cent as of July 2020.

此外，生活费津贴将从2020年6月起终止，增值税应从5％增至2020年7月的15％。

Also, to improve spending efficiency, a ministerial committee has been established to study the financial benefits paid to all employees, contractors and those of similar status whom are not subject to Civil Service Law in government ministries, institutions, authorities, centers, and programs, and present its recommendations within 30 days.

此外，为了提高支出效率，成立了一个部长级委员会，研究向政府各部委，机构，机关，中心和计划中不受《公务员法》约束的所有雇员，承包商和具有类似地位的员工所支付的财务收益， 并在30天内提出建议。

The Minister concluded that we are facing a crisis the world has never seen the likes of which in modern history, a crisis marked by uncertainty and difficulty to forecast its range and ramification due to daily developments that require governments to deal with it vigilantly and to make the suitable decisions at the right time and adapt to conditions in a way that safeguards public interest, protects citizens and residents and provides basic needs and necessary healthcare services.

部长总结说，我们正面临着一个世界上从未有过的危机，这是现代历史上的危机。由于每天的事态发展，要求政府保持警惕并做出应对，这一危机具有不确定性和难以预测其范围和后果 在适当的时候做出适当的决定，并以维护公共利益，保护公民和居民并提供基本需求和必要的医疗保健服务的方式适应各种情况。

Ref:

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/coronavirus-impact-saudi-arabia-vat-increased-to-15-cost-of-living-allowance-suspended