Saudi to cut foreign permits

AS PART of its plan to create jobs for nationals, Saudi Arabia will not renew the work permits of foreign workers who have spent six years in the country.

Labour minister Adil Fakieh said: "The current situation calls for strong co-operation between the government and private sector in solving the problem of unemployment with hundreds of thousands looking for work."

Unemployment among nationals in the kingdom, which sits on more than a fifth of global oil reserves and is the world's biggest oil exporter, is currently 10.5 per cent, he said