The king ordered the implementation of a 15 percent pay rise for state employees as well as an increase in the cash available for Saudi housing loans, according to SPA, the official news agency.

The 86-year-old monarch also granted pardon to some prisoners indicted in financial crimes and announced plans to tackle unemployment.

Abdullah was headed home Wednesday from Morocco, where he had been recuperating after back surgery in the United States, returning to a Middle East rocked by anti-regime uprisings.