Gulf banks raise interest rates in response to the Fed, Kuwait stays put
Saudi Arabia could be in store for a liquidity crunch, according to a leading credit rating agency. Kuwait has a history of not following the trend on interest rates.
Several central banks in the Gulf raised interest rates last night.
The central banks of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates raised their rates by 0.75%, mirroring the US Federal Reserve’s hike. Qatar raised its rates between 0.5% and 0.75%, according to Reuters.
Later that night, the Central Bank of Oman also raised its rate by 0.75%, according to a press release.
Kuwait, however, declined to raise rates at all.
