Saudi Shura to discuss revaluation

Riyadh: A Saudi Arabian council that advises the king will discuss revaluing the riyal against the dollar at a meeting on Sunday with the finance minister and central bank governor, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Reviewing the exchange rate of the riyal versus the dollar is a "necessity", daily Al Eqtisadiah quoted Osama Abu Gherara, deputy chairman of the Shura Council's finance committee, as saying.

Abu Gherara was reported as saying the kingdom, which has not changed the riyal's rate in 22 years, had yet to take any "concrete steps" to combat inflation, which surged to a 16-year high of 6.5 per cent in December.

The Shura Council will meet Finance Minister Ebrahim Al Assaf and Hamad Saud Al Sayyari, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, today, Abu Gherara said.