Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Economic and social experts say the Citizen’s Account program will help educate Saudi families in general on the culture of saving. The Citizen’s Account is a national cash transfer program, which was announced by the Saudi government in December 2016. Enrollment in the program, which aims to increase the efficiency of the distribution of state support by exclusively targeting the less privileged members of society, began in February this year. The experts believe that the program will educate Saudi families on rationalized consumption and sustainable use energy and water resources. While speaking to Al-Madina newspaper, they stressed the need to understand the main objectives of the program, which aims to protect underprivileged segments of society from the potential negative effects of ongoing economic reforms. The Saudi people must learn to save and invest by rationalized spending and reducing waste, they argued. The experts said the program aims to raise awareness in society on how to spend the available resources judiciously and reduce financial waste. This will help people to effectively face the challenges and impact of economic reforms, including high fuel and electricity prices and the value-added tax on most products and services, which is going to certainly affect some segments of society. In addition, the program will boost financial and administrative efficiency by channeling social security benefits and government support directly to citizens, and at the same time encouraging the best consumption practices. Professor of Economics at King Abdulaziz University Bandar Al-Juaid said, “The Citizen’s Account provides the necessary protection for low-income families against the potential effects of economic reforms, such as the imposition of value-added tax and the lifting of fuel and energy subsidies.” He added: “Rationalizing consumption is an urgent economic necessity to face the current challenges and build a secure future.” According to economist Abdullah Al-Maghlout, the Citizen’s Account is one of the programs in the reforms document. Social welfare programs are applied in different forms in different countries of the world, he said, adding that the aim is to support underprivileged families rather than subsidizing goods. Al-Maghlout said the program would support the needy families with a host of decisions while at the same time raising the efficiency of government spending by lifting states subsidies on fuel and electricity. Maghlout pointed to the importance of understanding the program’s objectives, which include rationalizing consumption and creating awareness about sustainable use of energy and water. Excessive waste is one of the main reasons for the low efficiency in these vital sectors and the frequent disruption of supply, he said, while calling for more awareness campaigns to educate the public on sustainable consumption. Economic analyst Abdulrahman Al-Jubairi welcomed the reform policies and the future direction of the Citizen’s Account based on decisions adopted by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. The decisions coincide with adjustments in the contents of the consumer protection plan in the light of economic reforms, such as the establishment of a common operations room and unified communication centers. Al-Jubairi told Al-Hayat newspaper that all these steps came within the framework of the government’s keenness to facilitate living conditions of families by balanced consumption. The measures at the same time protect low- and middle-income Saudi families from the direct and indirect impacts of various economic reforms, which will cause additional burdens on family budgets. Al-Jubairi stressed that this will encourage rational consumption and ensure that subsidies are distributed fairly among different categories of society. The subsidies will be given in cash payments directly to eligible beneficiaries, which shows that the economic policies adopted by the government are fair. “New trends in consumption and spending will stabilize inflation within reasonable ratios, reduce the gap in income inequality and cast a positive shadow on future social development programs,” Al-Jubairi said. “The reforms will also lead to a social balance keeping pace with economic and developmental changes in many service sectors such as healthcare, housing, education and social security,” he said. Al-Jubairi praised the series of regulations announced by the Council of Ministers relating to consumer protection and the activation of effective channels of communication. He said, “This will provide professional standards that eliminate all obstacles before consumer protection and effective planning, and also make available products with high quality at fair prices.” Dr. Salem Ba’ajajah, economic analyst and professor of accounting at Taif University, said everyone knew that the Citizen’s Account was meant mainly to relieve the burden on the heads of middle- and low-income families. “Financial support will be deposited in the personal accounts of beneficiaries with local banks so that the families effectively navigate through price increases as a result of the imposition of VAT as well as the lifting of subsidies,” he said.