Top Opec oil exporter Saudi Arabia will draw on its reserves to help fund government handouts unveiled by King Abdullah last week to address social pressures, its finance minister said on Sunday.
Abdullah returned home on Wednesday from three months of medical treatment abroad and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth around 135 billion riyals ($36 billion) an apparent bid to insulate the kingdom from an Arab protest wave.
Saudi Arabia has boosted foreign reserves over the past years thanks to continued high oil prices. These hit 1.65 trillion riyals ($440 billion) by the end of December, according to the central bank. Part of the king's handouts will go to new funds to help Saudis to get housing loans, a pressing issue for the Gulf Arab state's rising local population of 18 million.
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