S Arabia to reap benefits from illegal workers\\\' departure

RIYADH, Dec 8 (Xinhua): The rents of vacant accommodations will go down by 15 per cent and up to 7.0 billion of remittances will be saved as of next year in Saudi Arabia because of the deportation of a number of illegal workers, according to local newspapers Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has been deporting illegal expatriates after the end of amnesty that concluded last month.
The increasing number of expatriates over the past years led to increased demand for residential units in popular areas, creating a gap between supply and demand and taking rent prices up, Fuad Boqari, a real estate dealer, told Arab News.
Among deportees, Saudi Arabia deported 90,000 illegal Ethiopians workers, while it announced earlier this year a plan to deport 2.0 million foreign workers, who represent nearly one third of the labour market, according to Al Eqtisadiya newspaper.
This could create job opportunities for locals, as statistics indicate that there is one unemployed among each four Saudis in the employment age. Al Eqtisadiya also highlighted that the deportation will enable Saudi Arabia to save $7.0 billion of remittances.