Gulf central banks raise interest rate based on US Federal Reserve hike

The central banks of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar hiked their benchmark borrowing rates after the US Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) on March 22.

US stocks retreated from near two-week highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs.

The US Fed signalled that it might be on the verge of pausing future interest rate hikes amid recent turmoil in financial markets, reported the state news agency WAM.

Watch Chair Powell’s statement from the #FOMC press conference:

Intro clip: https://t.co/mSb4NfCX9I

Full video: https://t.co/iNWBmpfbj9

Press Conference materials: https://t.co/mkQOnFAs0w

— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) March 22, 2023

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) raised the base rate applicable to the Overnight Deposit Facility (ODF) by 25 bps – from 4.65 per cent to 4.90 per cent, effective from Thursday, March 23.

The CBUAE also decided to maintain the rate applicable to borrowing short-term liquidity from the bank through all standing credit facilities at 50 basis points above the base rate.

 

#UAE raises base rate by 25 bp#WamNews https://t.co/mt2UN83CJp pic.twitter.com/Q5ZVd5bzL7

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) March 22, 2023

Earlier in February, CBUAE raised the base rate applicable to the overnight deposit facility (ODF) by 25 basis points – from 4.4 per cent to 4.65 per cent.

This decision was taken following the US Federal Reserve Board’s announcement on February 1 to increase the Interest on Reserve Balances (IORB) by 25 basis points.

Read: UAE central Bank raises base rate by 25 basis points

Also read: UAE Central Bank raises interest rate by 75 basis points

Related read: CBUAE, Gulf central banks raise interest rates following US Fed rate hike

Interest rate hiked by other GCC banks

GCC central banks normally normally change their interest rates in lockstep with the Federal Reserve as Gulf states’ currencies – the UAE dirham, Qatari riyal, Saudi riyal and Bahraini dinar – are pegged to the dollar.

Saudi Central Bank raised the rate of repurchase agreement (repo) by 25 bps to 5.50 per cent, and the rate of reverse repurchase agreement (reverse repo) by 25 bps to 5 per cent, citing global monetary developments.

#SAMA Decision on Repo and Reverse Repo Rate.https://t.co/rfYAnMbHyf pic.twitter.com/hc5iW5JC6R

— SAMA | البنك المركزي السعودي (@SAMA_GOV) March 22, 2023

In Bahrain, the one-week deposit facility rate was increased to 5.75 per cent from 5.5 per cent and the overnight deposit rate was raised to 5.5 per cent from 5.25 per cent.

pic.twitter.com/UHB5Tjt8R4

— Central Bank of Bahrain (@CBB_News) March 22, 2023

The Central Bank of Qatar likewise raised its interest rates by 25 basis points effective on Thursday, hiking deposit, lending and repo rates by 25 bps to 5.25 per cent, 5.75 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

قرار لجنة السياسة النقدية الخاص بأدوات السياسة النقدية – مارس 2023#مصرف_قطر_المركزي pic.twitter.com/jy1WQaffPj

— مصرف قطر المركزي (@QCBQATAR) March 22, 2023