Saudi Arabia's government has approved the expenditure of 72 billion Saudi Riyal (AED70.51 billion) to stimulate the country's private sector.

The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, said that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud , had issued a Royal Decree approving the amount for a private sector stimulation plan based on proposals by HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, The Crown Prince and Vice President of the Council of the Ministers and President of the Economic and Development Council.

The initiatives will include a subsidised housing loans initiative, an export finance promotion initiative, an initiative on supporting financially distressed companies,one for building technologies, a government risk capital initiative for small and medium enterprises, a government fees refunding initiative, also for small and medium enterprises, and a large scale investment programme.

The private sector stimulation packages aim to strengthen competitive capabilities of a number of sectors of the national economy as well as to improve the business and investment environment as part of Vision 2030, SPA said.