Saudi Fund for Development

Since the 1970s Saudi Arabia has provided foreign assistance to many countries and organizations.

Just between 1976 and 1987, Saudi developmental aid amounted to USD49 billion, second only to the United States of America. The ODA/GNP ratio averaged 4.2% over this period, well above the highest amount provided by Development Assistance Committee countries (the DAC average is 0.35%). On a per-capita basis, the country is the biggest worldwide donor though the aid has only been given to Muslim countries.

The Saudi Fund was set up by royal decree in October 1974, to stimulate economic growth in developing nations. In the next four years it gave soft loans totaling $3.1 billion to 51 countries, many of them with the lowest per-capita income bracket in the world. Almost 60 percent of approved loans earmarked for transport, power and water projects. By 1979, the fund accounted for about 30 percent of the kingdom's foreign economic aid.

Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion in export guarantees and soft loans to Iraq. For Lebanon, it pledged a total of $1.59 billion in assistance and deposits to the Central Bank of Lebanon in 2006 and pledged an additional $1.1 billion in early 2007. Of that aid, $500 million were intended for reconstruction.

After the 2003 Bam earthquake, Saudi Arabia pledged more than $200,000 to the victims.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest providers of aid to the Palestinian people. Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has given more than $480 million in monetary support to the Palestinian Authority, and has supported Palestinian refugees by contributing to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Through the Arab League it has provided more than $250 million for the Palestinians, and pledged $500 million in assistance over the next three years at the Donors Conference in Dec 2007. Unlike aid from other nations, Saudi Arabian aid to Palestinians was not disrupted by the election of Hamas.

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