RIYADH, Feb 22: Almost $800 billion have gone out of the Kingdom due to administrative corruption, says Majed Garoub, a legal consultant and chairman of the lawyers committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He was commending a national strategy for combating corruption, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on Monday. The cabinet also set up an authority to monitor its implementation.

But Mr Garoub did not say over what period of time this figure is derived.Garoub called for greater administrative and financial controls and establishment of a separate ministry for this purpose.

“We are also in need of a constitutional court to ensure that our rules and regulations are suitable and legitimate,” he added. There are different forms of administrative corruption, such as bribery, use of influence or wasta (personal connections) and embezzlement of public money, Saudi daily Arab News said quoting him.

“We are losing billions of riyals every year as a result of corruption,” said Amri Al-Kholi, professor of law at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.