The Saudi riyal

Which authority issues the riyal

The Saudi Central Bank issues the notes and coins and still goes by the initials SAMA, from its years as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. As the Monetary Agency it began issuing regular banknotes on 15 June 1961. Its notes carry the number and date of the royal decree under which they were issued, along with the signatures of the finance minister and the head of the bank.

How the Hejaz riyal became Saudi money

Before Saudi Arabia was created, the Hejaz already counted in riyals. The Hejaz riyal matched the weight of the Ottoman 20-kuruş coin but was struck in silver of .917 fineness against the Ottoman .830, so it came to be worth 22 kuruş. In 1925 transitional copper coins were minted in Mecca. The first coins in the name of Saudi Arabia, silver quarter, half and whole riyals, came in 1935 and weighed nearly half as much as the issue before.

The riyal was divided into qirsh. In 1960 the count was set at 20 qirsh to the riyal, and in 1963 the halala arrived as a hundredth of a riyal. Some Saudi coins still carry qirsh values, though the unit has fallen out of common use.

Why pilgrims' receipts turned into banknotes

In 1953 the Monetary Agency started issuing Hajj Pilgrim Receipts, first for 10 riyals and then for 1 and 5. They looked like banknotes and were meant for pilgrims changing foreign money. People across the country took them anyway, and they largely replaced silver riyal coins in large transactions. The agency answered with regular notes in 1961. The receipts were withdrawn on 1 February 1965.

How the riyal is held to the dollar

Since June 1986 the riyal has been pegged officially to the IMF's special drawing rights and fixed in practice at 3.75 to the US dollar. The rate became official on 1 January 2003. After the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on 18 September 2007 the central bank did not follow, and the riyal rose briefly before returning to its peg in early December 2007.

Saudi Arabia belongs to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which planned a currency union with a single currency by 2010. Every member still uses its own money.

What the current notes and coins show

The present issue began on 26 December 2016 with notes of 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 riyals and coins from 1 halala to 2 riyals. A 5-riyal note printed on polymer followed on 28 September 2020, with the look of the cotton notes it replaced. A 200-riyal note came on 4 January 2021 to mark Saudi Vision 2030. The fronts of the notes show the Kaaba, the Green Dome of the Prophet's Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter. On the backs are the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh and spring wildflowers, among other scenes.