To prevent companies from laying off their staff, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced Friday the government will cover a portion of private sector salaries in the industries most impacted by the novel coronavirus.
Salman unveiled an economic stimulus valued at over 9 billion riyals ($2.4 billion), according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Under his royal decree, companies needing to lay off employees can instead apply for the government to compensate 60% of those salaries for the next three months.