Saudi Arabia will pay money owed to private sector companies by the end of the year, a government committee said on Monday.

Many payments had been delayed in the wake of the oil price crash, leaving tens of thousands of foreign workers, primarily in the construction sector, awaiting back wages, AFP reported.

But the government plans to pay its dues by the end of next month, a committee presided over by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, said.

The council discussed “complete payment of amounts owed to the private sector”, along with matters including the completion of state projects and review of others.

“The Council came out with a package of solutions and procedures for the settlement of dues that met the requirements, authorized by the chairman of the council, prior to being submitted to the King, in order to, immediately, begin to settle these dues and being completed, before the end of the current fiscal year, ends by December 2016,” the official state news agency SPA reported.

The halt in payments has led to salary payment delays for workers, with some contractors laying off thousands of staff.

But Saudi Binladin Group, the largest contractor in the kingdom, said in September that the finance ministry has started to resume payments for work on government projects after months of delays.

The contractor was hit hard and forced to make thousands of layoffs amid a slowdown in the construction sector, delays in government payments and project suspensions and cancellations.