Saudi central bank governor vows to keep dollar peg policy

Saudi Arabia remains committed to keeping its riyal pegged to the dollar, Fahd al-Mubarak, the governor of the country’s central bank, said in a speech published on the central bank website on Monday.

“I would like to assure that the monetary agency will continue to manage its monetary policies to attain the goal of stabilizing the value of the riyal at the exchange rate of 3.75 riyals to the dollar,” al-Mubarak said at a conference in Riyadh. “We will use all means available to support such stability.”

In January, the central bank warned commercial banks against betting on depreciation of the riyal as oil prices declined.

The kingdom, which has kept the exchange rate at SAR 3.75 a dollar since 1986, moved to support the riyal after the currency hit a record low against the dollar in the one-year forwards markets.

Write to Abeer Allam at abeer.allam@argaam.com