RIYADH — In a relief measure for investors, Saudi Arabia has waived 25 percent of the municipal property rents for a period of three months. The move is expected to cover more than 50,000 and will cost the exchequer more than SR570 million ($152 million). Majed Al-Hoqail, the minister of housing and acting minister of municipal and rural affairs, said that the approval was granted by the highest authorities to exempt investors from paying 25 percent of the rental value of municipal real estate contracts for this year. "This generous approval comes as part of the unlimited support being provided by the state to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the private sector and to protect investors from defaulting in order to ensure the sustainability of projects," the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting him as saying. Al-Hoqail stated that the approval includes exempting all investors who concluded contracts with mayoralties and municipalities across the Kingdom in the economic activities affected by the pandemic. In a related development, Al-Hoqail expected that there would be at least 550,000 subsidized housing loans over the next five years. The ministry is currently working on establishing a company to deal with guarantees to overcome the challenges facing the financing sector. He said the loans of the Ministry of Housing represent 94 percent of the monthly loans announced by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), which are contracts supported by the ministry, while six percent are other contracts. During the past two months, 36,000 contracts have been executed at a rate of 18,000 contracts per month, the minister added.
