35% pay rise in Saudi turns out a scam

Saudi Arabia’s more than three million civil servants had waited with elation for government t confirmation about a planned hefty 35 per cent pay rise. But their delight was shortlived after it emerged that the relevant statement was a fake.

A letter published on social networks in the world’s dominant oil exporter told Saudis to expect a 35 per cent increase in their monthly salaries shortly. It was presumably issued by the Ministry of Finance and signed by the Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf.

Several newspapers in the Gulf Kingdom, the largest Arab economy, had carried a copy of the letter which was published on Facebook and Twitter.

But the Ministry of Finance later denied any plan for such a pay rise and said the statement published online was incorrect and carried a fake signature of the Minister.

“We have seen that statement…it’s a fake as we found that the signature is different from the Minister’s real signature…the serial number on the letter also does follow the sequence of previous letters issued by the Ministry,” an unnamed Ministry official said, quoted by Alsaudeh Arabic language daily.

King Abdullah has ordered the creation of a committee to consider increasing the salaries of civil servants and pensions to citizens but the rise has not been specified yet.

According to the letter published online, the committee has recommended an increase of 35 per cent to civil servants and the same rise to pensioners with a monthly wage of less than SR10,000 and 15 per cent to pensioners earning more than SR10,000.

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