A report in the American Bloomberg website said that starting June 10, Saudi Arabia will raise a series of customs duties on a wide range of products, which will harm consumers ’ability to spend, which has already decreased.
According to a document issued by customs authorities, the author said the new fees would be applied to a 74-page list of imported products, including dairy products, meat, vegetables, carpets, building materials and vehicles. The author added that the increases range from 0.5% to 15%.
According to the Saudi Economic Newspaper, the list included raising the fees on sheep meat intended for slaughter to 7%, as well as raising the fees on other types of meat and shrimp, and also included raising the fees on milk to 10% instead of 5%.
This change could bring non-oil revenues to the world's largest crude exporter, and it is likely to boost domestic agriculture and manufacturing, but this change will also hit consumers ’purchasing power in times of crisis, the author explains.
The Saudi government is already planning to increase the value-added tax by three times to 15% in July, which will further increase prices during the period when many Saudis face job losses or salary cuts, according to a Bloomberg report.
"The move is likely to support domestic production and boost non-oil revenues ... Nevertheless - as is the case with the upcoming increase in value added tax - higher customs duties would To hinder recovery, especially with regard to discretionary spending. "
The writer indicated that Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product is expected to drop dramatically this year, as the Corona virus outbreak and the oil market turmoil both harm the local economy. She also made clear that consumer spending was already hit by the economic downturn caused by the Coruna epidemic.
"The Bloomberg report quotes the Saudi writer Khaled Al-Suleiman as saying in an opinion article published by Okaz newspaper that" citizens fear that the pressures imposed on their living standards will last during the current crisis, "adding that following measures such as high value-added tax and customs duties" will be negatively reflected in the term Long on the economy itself. "