Saudi Arabia has announced an initiative supporting the kingdom’s healthcare workers, who are among those on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the kingdom’s central bank, announced on Sunday that, starting this April, local banks will postpone three months’ instalments for all public and private health personnel who have credit facilities without changing the cost.

This is in “recognition of their enormous efforts to safeguard the health of the citizens and residents,” the Saudi Press Agency stated.

Saudi Arabia’s ruler  Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has ordered a curfew from 7 pm to 6 am for 21 days, to slow the spread of coronavirus. The curfew will take effect on today evening.

On Friday, the largest economy in the Arab region announced stimulus packages totaling to 120 Saudi billion riyals ($32 billion) to offset the impact on businesses due to the coronavirus. The relief package includes a 50 billion riyal ($13.3 billion) package announced last week to support small and medium-sized businesses.

According to Friday's announcement, 70 billion riyals has been allotted to support businesses. The various measures include the postponement of tax payments and exemptions of various government taxes and fees.

(Writing by Seban Scaria, editing by Daniel Luiz)

(seban.scaria@refinitiv.com)

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