This included funding to offset high inflation, aid for young unemployed people and Saudi citizens studying abroad, as well as writing off some loans. State employees saw their incomes increase by 15 per cent, and additional cash was made available for housing loans. No political reforms were announced as part of the package, though some prisoners indicted for financial crimes were pardoned.[24] After a number of small demonstrations in the mainly Shia areas of the east, public protests were banned in March 2011, and King Abdullah warned that threats to the nation's security and stability would not be tolerated.[25]