Saudi foreign assistance

Since the 1980s Saudi Arabia has provided foreign assistance to many countries and organizations. Between 1976 and 1987, Saudi developmental aid amounted to US$49 billion. In 2006, it was reported that the country was the biggest per capita donor, though the aid had only been given to Muslim countries. The first donation given to a non-Muslim country was in 2006. Saudi charities, including those linked to the Saudi royal family, have been implicated as funding terrorism through purported charity donations, as well as funding radical Islam movements. Saudi fund for development 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. In 2019, Saudi Arabia, through the Saudi Fund for Development, has become the 3rd largest donor to UNRWA at it donated $800 million since 1994. Moreover, in 2019, the fund provided support to maintain Palestinian refugee camps in different countries. According to the OECD, 2020 official development assistance from Saudi Arabia decreased by 25.3% to US$1.5 billion.