Monday, January 14, 2008

Largest Saudi bank calls for currency revalue

The largest state bank for Saudi Arabia, National Commercial Bank, is calling for the government to alter the riyal's peg with the dollar.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7219869.

So far the Saudis have held the line on any change in the currency. They have also maintained that the price of oil should still be quoted in dollars, but there is mounting pressure for a change to stop the internal inflation associated with the dollar peg. The valuation has been in place for 21 years. Inflation is now at 5.35% over the last year. The banks' chief economist is also advocating a sovereign fund to reduce the exposure to US Treasury bonds.

No comments: