New programmes and the new mortgage system — approved by the cabinet in July and expected to take force in the next few weeks — will contribute to decreased land prices, realtors said.

The new mortgage law "will help to tackle one of the most pressing social issues for many in the Kingdom and will generate significant benefits to the economy.

In 2010, the Government approved a five-year SAR 1.44 trillion (USD384 bn) development plan to develop human resources, education, housing and transportation infrastructure as the kingdom seeks faster economic growth, continued diversification of its economy away from hydrocarbons, and to create jobs

Soaring demand for broadband helped Saudi Telecom Co (STC) post a 60 percent increase in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, with the former monopoly reporting rising revenues in its mobile, fixed line, corporate and wholesale units.

Booming oil prices are flooding Arab countries with money, but where the lion's share of that wealth would once have been pumped into the world's financial markets, much of it is now being spent at home.