77 © 2022 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF THE SAUDI CITIZEN ACCOUNT AS A COMPENSATION PROGRAM TO ACHIEVE FOOD SECURITY FOR LOW-INCOME CITIZENS UNDER THE KINGDOM’S VISION 2030 Heba Althawaini 1+ Nagat Elmulthum 2 Hafsa Morsi 3 1,2 Department Agribusiness and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. 1 Email: 218005133@student.kfu.edu.sa Tel: 00966500121119 2 Email: nelmultham@kfu.edu.sa Tel: 00966559469745 3 Agricultural Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. 3 Email: ohafsa2ay@gmail.com Tel: 00201117959297 (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 31 January 2022 Revised: 7 March 2022 Accepted: 22 March 2022 Published: 4 April 2022 Keywords Break-even level Expenditure elasticity Food security Linear expenditure system Saudi Arabia Seemingly unrelated regressions. JEL Classification: H5. This research aims to assess Saudi Citizen Account’s (CA) impact on low- and middle- income individuals by considering costs from increasing energy and water prices, and taxes imposed in Saudi Arabia. The minimum total household consumption expenditure was estimated (before and after the Saudi Vision 2030 economic reforms). The research covers all the expenditure groups in the Household Income and Expenditure Survey conducted by the General Authority for Statistics and estimates the linear expenditure system (LES) using the seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) method. Results indicate variations in expenditure in 2013 and 2018. The minimum household consumption expenditure in 2018 exceeded than that in 2013. Comparing the average (CA) value and the difference between minimum household expenditures in the two years on all groups in general, and on food, beverages, health, and education in specific shows that the financial support the Citizen Account provides, indeed covers financial burdens that the low-income individuals would bear due to increase in prices. Contribution/ Originality: This study is probably one of the earliest studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that aims to evaluate the "Citizen's Account" program to help the low-income Saudi citizens to combat inflation resulting from economic reforms and to ensure the maintenance of their purchasing power and food security. It is one of the studies that reveals the potential impact resulting from the implementation of the monetary support policy for families with the lowest incomes during the period of economic reforms. 1. INTRODUCTION Government support is one of the important measures taken by governments during the implementation of economic reforms in order to reduce the burden on low-income individuals by providing their consumption needs or increasing the availability of some goods and services without reducing their spending on other goods and services. Therefore, support programs aim to maintain the purchasing power of low-income families on one hand and to maintain food security on the other hand, where food is considered as an essential need and obtaining it amid the continuous and accelerating economic reforms, is a source of concern for low-income families (Elbushra & Ahmed, 2020). Asian Development Policy Review ISSN(e): 2313-8343 ISSN(p): 2518-2544 DOI: 10.55493/5008.v10i2.4461 Vol. 10, No. 2, 77-87. © 2022 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. URL: www.aessweb.com