Saudi cuts reverse repo, leaves lending rate steady
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Saudi Arabia, which pegs its riyal to the dollar, lowered its reverse repurchase rate by 75 basis points on Wednesday after a US cut, two bankers said. It left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) cut the reverse repo to 2.25 per cent from 3 per cent, a banker in each of Riyadh and Dubai said, reading from a central bank notice. The central bank of the world's largest oil exporter usually only communicates interest rate decisions to banks, sometimes confirming in a public statement at the end of the month. The Fed cut its benchmark lending rate by 0.75 of a percentage point on Tuesday, its sixth cut since September, as part of an effort to ease a slowdown in an economy hit by a housing slump and credit crunch. (Reuters)
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