In a move possibly related to reining in the religious police, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman announced that the Kingdom is proposing a permanent residency program for expatriate workers similar to the US Green Card system. “The Green Card-like program and a plan to allow employers to hire more foreign workers above their official quotas for a fee could generate $10 billion a year each,” the deputy crown prince told Bloomberg in an exclusive interview. The obvious benefit to the country is more revenue in these times of low oil prices.  Not only would the system generate $10 billion, but another $10 billion would be generated from fees imposed on companies which exceed foreign worker quotas.  The proposed residency program is part of a larger package, which is expected to pull in an additional $100 billion in revenue.  Also, non-Saudi residents will pay what the Saudis pay including Zakat, a mandated Islamic tax, a...(Read Full Post)