JEDDAH, 5 April 2007 — Saudi Arabia will begin circulating new riyal notes with a portrait of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah by the middle of next month, according to Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf. “The introduction of the new currency will be carried out in a gradual manner,” he added.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) will soon receive the first consignment of the new riyal notes, the fifth issue of the Saudi currency, high-level sources at the Kingdom’s central bank said.
The new currency will be available in six denominations. The SR1, SR5, SR10, SR50 and SR100 notes will carry a portrait of King Abdullah while the SR500 note will continue to have the portrait of King Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom’s founder.
No new notes will be issued in the denominations of SR20 and SR200 as the existing notes were issued about nine years ago when the Kingdom marked its centenary, one source said. The two notes carry a logo of the centenary as well as Islamic and historic monuments.
Meetings are currently being held at SAMA in order to make necessary arrangements for the introduction of the new currency. There is a plan to hold an awareness campaign to educate the public on the security features contained by the notes.
“The circulation of the notes will be carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and other government departments,” one source said.
The launch of the new notes will not affect the Saudi riyal notes currently available in the market and their validity will continue until they are fully withdrawn. SAMA usually withdraws old notes whenever new ones are issued.
The source did not say whether the agency would issue new coins. “But we are ready to issue them whenever we receive instructions,” he said.
The Council of Ministers approved the issue of new currency with King Abdullah’s portrait last year. At that time, SAMA chief Hamad Al-Sayari said his organization would issue the new currency in the second quarter of the Hijrah year 1428.
“Dealings with all existing currencies currently circulated in the market will continue and their values will not be affected,” said Sayari. He also stated that the new currency would highlight the cultural development achieved by the Kingdom.
“The new notes are designed with the latest security features that will increase confidence in the currency,” he added.
Two years ago, Finance Minister Al-Assaf said that SAMA would withdraw Saudi riyal notes in the 500 and 100 denominations from the market gradually in order to replace them with new notes containing enhanced security features. He also said that the measure was aimed at preventing forgery.
Saudi Arabia began issuing currency after the establishment of SAMA in 1952. The first issue was available only in SR10 denominations. In the second issue were SR10, SR5 and SR1 but all these notes were withdrawn in 1384H. New notes in SR100, SR50, SR10, SR5, and SR1 were issued in 1381H. The fourth issue of Saudi riyal notes was in 1/4/1404H, which included SR500 notes for the first time. Saudi Arabia’s monetary supply increased by 16.2 percent to reach SR655.82 billion this year.
