Five Gulf countries raised interest rates by three quarters of a percentage, resulting from the decision of the US Federal Reserve. Saudi made a smaller increase after the latest data showed a slight inflation slowdown in the kingdom.
The Fed raised the main interest rate by a sizable 75 basis points aiming to combat high inflation rates, in what was the largest increase in US interest rates since 1994. It expected that the economy will slow and unemployment in the United States will increase in the coming months.
Saudi
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced a 0.5 percent increase in interest rates. It said in a statement that it decided to raise the rate of reverse repo agreements (repo) by 50 basis points from 125 basis points to 175 basis points (to 1.75 percent), and raise the rate of repo agreements (repo) by 50 basis points from 175 basis points. to 225 basis points (to 2.25 percent).
Inflation in Saudi Arabia fell to 2.2 percent in May from 2.3 percent in April.
UAE
The UAE Central Bank decided to raise the “base rate” on overnight deposit facilities by 75 basis points, starting today, Thursday.
It decided to keep the rate applicable to borrowing short-term liquidity from the Central Bank through all existing credit facilities at 50 basis points above the base rate.
Qatar
And Qatar’s Central Bank announced raising the bank’s interest rate for deposits by 75 basis points to 2.25 percent. It also raised the bank’s lending interest rate by 50 basis points to reach 25.3%.
Kuwait
The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Kuwait decided to raise the discount rate by a quarter of a percentage point from 2 percent to 2.25 percent, starting today, Thursday.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, Basil Al-Haroun, said that it was also decided to make an adjustment of varying rates to the intervention rates in the monetary market, which are currently applied to all periods of the interest rate structure.
Bahrain
The Central Bank of Bahrain decided to raise the basic interest rate on one-week deposits from 1.75 percent to 2.50 percent.
The interest rate on overnight deposits was also raised from 1.50 percent to 2.25 percent, and the interest rate on deposits for a period of four weeks was raised from 2.50 percent to 3.25 percent. It also raised the interest rate imposed by the Central Bank on retail banks in return for lending facilities from 3 percent to 3.75 percent.
Oman, the remaining member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, is expected to follow the same path with a similar increase in interest.
