Free Republic

Saudi Arabia's central bank has told banks it is banning the use of options and other derivatives to speculate against the riyal, in a new effort to reduce pressure on its currency peg, a senior executive at a Saudi bank told Reuters on Sunday. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency "wants to make sure that there is no snowball effect against the riyal in the forwards markets", the executive said, declining to be named because of commercial sensitivities. "So now banks in the country are banned from accepting any options against the riyal." Non-speculative trade in the riyal forwards market is...

With Saudi Riyal forwards plunging back below 3.81, dramatically weaker than the current peg, Bloomberg reports that Saudi authorities are cracking down on currency traders as speculation mounts that the world’s biggest oil exporter won’t be able to maintain the riyal’s peg to the dollar as revenue plunges. Saudi Arabia ordered banks in the kingdom to stop selling some products that allow speculators to bet against its currency peg just days after demanding information from lenders on the offerings, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency sent a circular to banks this week saying...