Riyadh: Amid reports of a huge increase in remittances by expatriate workers in the kingdom, prominent Saudi officials and experts have called for an overhaul of the national plan for Saudisation as well as the recruitment system.

According to economic and banking sources, the volume of remittances by foreign workers in the kingdom through banks and other legal channels reached 616 billion Saudi riyals (Dh604 billion) over the past 10 years.

The remittances are estimated to total 78.5 billion riyals in 2008 alone, an increase of 33 per cent over the previous year.

Remittances by foreigners working in the kingdom have undergone drastic fluctuations. Between 1990 and 1994 there was a gradual increase in remittances.

They jumped from 42.1 billion riyals (24 per cent of GDP) in 1990 to 67.8 billion riyals (31.8 per cent of GDP) in 1994.

Then there was a steady decrease in the volume of remittances after 1994 to 50.8 billion riyals (15.8 per cent of GDP) for the private sector in 2004.

Between 2005 and 2008, there was a gradual increase in remittances over previous years.

In 2007 remittances were an estimated 59 billion riyals, representing 14.6 per cent of GDP. Remittances comprised 17.7 per cent of GDP in 2008.

Speaking to Gulf News, Abdul Hameed Al Ameri, member of the Saudi Economic Society, blamed the faulty Saudisation plan for the huge increase in remittances.

"There are more than seven million foreign workers in the kingdom and a major portion of them are unskilled and even illiterate," Al Ameri said.

"On the other hand, there are 1.5 million qualified Saudi jobseekers, who are holders of secondary certificates, diplomas and bachelor degrees," he said adding that the kingdom's current Saudisation plan is not effective in replacing the overwhelming majority of foreign workers with nationals.

Al Ameri noted that it was possible to dispense with about 70 per cent of the foreign workforce in view of the fact that there are a large number of qualified Saudi jobseekers who could replace them in a phased manner.

"We have to put the existing recruitment system under total review," said Dr Abdul Aziz Daghistani, a former member of the Shoura Council.