JEDDAH, 5 September 2006 — Saudi Arabia will issue new currency notes and coins by the middle of next year incorporating additional security features as the Council of Ministers yesterday gave the green signal to the project.
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Governor Hamad Al-Sayari said the Saudi central bank would circulate the new issues by the second quarter of next Hijrah year.
“The circulation of bills and coins currently in the market will continue without any change in their values,” Sayari told Saudi Press Agency, adding that the new security features would strengthen public confidence in the currency.
The new bills will reflect the cultural and economic progress being witnessed by Saudi Arabia under Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Sayari said. Abdullah became the King on Aug. 1, 2005.
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by King Abdullah, emphasized the Kingdom’s efforts to prevent division of Iraq on ethnic and sectarian grounds and achieve Palestinian national unity.
The meeting also said that the Kingdom was making intensive efforts to contain the aftermath of the Israeli war on Lebanon.
Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said the Cabinet also called for the peaceful coexistence of the various Islamic schools of thought (madahib) in Muslim countries in order to strengthen national unity. “The Cabinet meeting observed that the Islamic world faces challenges from within and outside,” he said, cautioning Muslim leaders about forces bent on creating division in society.
“The Islamic, political, cultural and economic leadership must be vigilant about such forces, movements and ideologies that work to break up the Ummah and create suspicion and division among them,” Madani said quoting a Cabinet statement.
The Cabinet endorsed the unified GCC trade policy, which was approved by the last GCC summit in Abu Dhabi.
It also reviewed the progress of higher education projects in various cities including Riyadh, Hail and Jizan.
Also yesterday, King Abdullah approved the decisions taken by the Higher Education Council, including the scholarship program, which is named after him. Under the program, 15,000 Saudi students will be sent to the United States and 3,000 to Asian countries to pursue their higher education.
“This is the largest scholarship program in the Kingdom’s history,” said Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari.
The king also approved Prince Muhammad Private University in the Eastern Province as well as the criteria for opening new colleges in various parts of the country.
Al-Anqari revealed plans to establish five new colleges — an applied medical sciences college and an engineering college in Kharj, a community college in Jubail, a nursing college in Abha and a community college in Namas in the Asir region.
