Man in oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia 'puts kidney up for sale on Twitter'

A Saudi man has put one of his kidneys up for sale on social media for half a million riyals ($133,000), highlighting the economic woes felt by many in the oil-rich kingdom.

Mosleh bin Mohammed from the coastal city of Jeddah made the announcement in a video shared widely on Twitter this week.

"I am offering my kidney for sale and I am from a prominent tribe that knows me well," bin Mohammed says.

"People can say whatever they want but I am offering it for 500,000 riyals," he adds, before noting his blood type and contact details.

Demand has surged in recent years in diabetes-stricken Gulf states for kidney transplants, leading many to search for organs in less affluent countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Despite being one the wealthiest countries in the world, Saudi Arabia suffers from widespread poverty and unemployment.

At least one-quarter of young Saudi men are effectively unemployed, and almost 90 percent of women are essentially out of the labour market altogether.

Millions of Saudis live in poverty, some estimates have put the number as high as a quarter of the native Saudi population of 20 million.

The subject is highly taboo in the absolute monarchy, which is famous for its seemingly endless number of billionaire princes.

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund advised Saudi Arabia to slow down some of its sensitive cutbacks as economic growth remains stagnant this year and unemployment rises.

The IMF says non-oil growth is projected to dip below 2 percent in 2017 while overall economic growth is expected to be close to zero.

The kingdom's powerful heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is pressing ahead with wide-reaching plans to overhaul the economy and diversify revenue streams following a sharp decline in oil prices since 2014.

His Vision 2030 aims to reduce unemployment, boost private sector growth and wean the country off what he has described as its "addiction to oil."