Saudi Arabia Follows Fed With Rate Increase as Oil Slumps - Bloomberg Business

Saudi Arabia Follows Fed With Rate Increase as Oil Slumps - Bloomberg Business:

"Saudi Arabia raised interest rates for the first time since 2009, matching the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move even as oil revenue slumps and economic growth is slowing.
The world’s biggest oil exporter increased the reverse repo rate by a quarter-point to 0.5 percent. The change was “in line with domestic and international financial market conditions,” the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The central banks of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain also raised rates.
The increase comes as the kingdom is fighting a costly war in Yemen and the price of oil, the nation’s main source of income, plummeted to the lowest since 2008. Economic growth may slow to 3.1 percent this year from 3.5 percent in 2014, according to the median of 12 estimates compiled by Bloomberg."



'via Blog this'