Saudi central bank raises key interest rates ahead of U.S. | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Saudi central bank raises key interest rates ahead of U.S. | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

"Saudi Arabia's central bank raised its two key interest rates by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday in an apparent effort to prevent Saudi money rates from falling far below U.S. rates, which could trigger capital outflows from the kingdom.

The central bank lifted its repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, to 2.25 percentage points and its reverse repo rate, at which commercial banks deposit money with the central bank, to 1.75 percentage points.

The timing of the move was unusual. Normally, Saudi Arabia waits until the United States alters interest rates before making its own changes; this time, the Saudis acted almost a week before next Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, which is widely expected to hike U.S. rates by 0.25 percentage point.
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