Riyadh – Mubasher: Remittances from expatriates in Saudi Arabia rose by SAR 315 million or 2.8% year-on-year in April 2018.

Remittances increased to  SAR 11.7 billion in April, compared to SAR 11.4 billion in the same month a year earlier,  according to a monthly bulletin of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

Month-on-month, expatriates’ remittances tumbled 8% from SAR 12.8 billion in March.

Meanwhile, money transfers by Saudis surged 27.2% to SAR 4.9 billion over April 2018, up from SAR 3.9 billion in the same month in the year before.

On a monthly basis, the value of kingdom citizens’ transfers decreased 21%, from SAR 6.3 billion in March.

Since the beginning of 2018, the Saudi Labor and Social Development Ministry started to raise returns between SAR 300 and SAR 400 from expatriates that are working in the Saudi private sector.