The Philippines will ask for clarification from Saudi Arabia which announced it would stop granting work permits for Filipino domestic staff.

Officials will also look for other markets for workers in the event that the freeze, announced in Riyadh on Wednesday, is put into full effect, Aquino spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Saudi authorities announced the new policy, which also affects maids from Indonesia, after failing to agree on hiring conditions imposed by the Asian countries.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz “is sending a labor attache to Saudi Arabia to verify these things,” Lacierda said.

Some 1.3 million Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia, a key market for the nine million-strong overseas-based Filipino work force.

There had been rising concern in Manila that the dispute could impact on the economy of the Philippines, where a fifth of the workforce is jobless or looking for more work.

Saudi Arabia turned down the Philippines’ demand for higher pay and greater protection for women workers in May.