SAUDI CROWN PRINCE LAUNCHES FUND TO ENHANCE CITIZENS’ QUALITY OF LIFE
▶ The project will help low-income newlyweds overcome financial worries and teach them financial management
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a non-government, non-profit fund to empower citizens and enhance their quality of life.
The Mohammed bin Salman Fund will support Saudis on a “financial and development level”. It will continue to look at the needs of the society to launch further initiatives, it announced.
“Out of our belief in the role of communities and [their] importance to build our nation, the Mohammed bin Salman Fund starts as a programme that will launch non-profit initiatives to support Saudi society and to touch on its needs,” the fund tweeted.
Its first project will help low-income newlyweds to overcome financial worries, while also teaching them about financial management.
To apply for the marriage fund both husband and wife must be Saudis, it must be the first marriage for the husband, and the couple must have been married for less than a year when applying.
Additional criteria include that the dowry given to the wife be no more than 50,000 Saudi riyals (Dh49,000) and that the family income is no more than Dh3,900 per month.
The fund will also prioritise the children of those killed in battle and people with special needs.
The organisation will assess the needs of different social groups by providing them with direct aid and awareness courses. The initiative comes as part of Prince Mohammed’s effort to empower the population of Saudi Arabia, 40 per cent of which is under the age of 24.
As part of Vision 2030, Prince Mohammed’s brainchild, he plans to create more jobs for young people by investing in the entertainment sector – an exciting prospect for Saudi youths who have only recently been able to watch movies in cinemas.
The newly launched initiative will be welcomed by Saudi Arabia’s lower-income families, many of whom struggle to get married – a costly prospect in Gulf societies – and maintain households.
To alleviate some of the housing concerns, Saudi Arabia’s minister of housing last year announced plans to build a million homes in the next five years through an investment of $100 billion (Dh367bn).
The ministry wants 60 per cent of Saudis to own homes by 2020.
To achieve this it is working with local banks to help provide financing.