RIYADH/DUBAI, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates slashed interest rates on Monday in the Gulf region's latest move to ward off a sharp slowdown in economic growth as it becomes more entangled in global financial turmoil. Most states in the oil-exporting Gulf Arab region peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar, but have kept interest rates above Federal Reserve rates, which were cut to near-zero last month.
In moves that bridge this gap, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) on Monday reduced its benchmark repurchase rate for the fifth time since October to 2 percent, while cutting a rate that guides deposits by half to 0.75 percent.
The UAE central bank -- which refrained from matching the last two Fed cuts -- reduced its benchmark by 50 basis points to 1 percent.
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