Brexit to Have Little Impact on Saudi and UAE Financial Institutions

Brexit to Have Little Impact on Saudi and UAE Financial Institutions

Saudi said it had already made some adjustments to assets denominated in Pound Sterling and Euros

Saturday, 2  Gulf states said they did not anticipate their financial institutions to be greatly affected as a result of Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest Crude Oil exporter and OPEC heavy, said it had already made some adjustments to assets denominated in Pound Sterling and Euros in anticipation of the leave vote.

The Kingdom had been monitoring the situation and made the changes as a “precautionary stance,” Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority Governor Ahmed al-Kholifey said on state media.

“For the banking sector, we expect that the impact will be limited, because it is less exposed to the two aforementioned currencies’ movements,” he said.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign assets are mainly denominated in USD, in the form of securities such as US Treasury bonds and deposits with banks abroad.

Neighboring United Arab Emirates (UAE) also said Saturday any effect on its financial institutions as a result of Britain’s EU exit will be limited.

“Due to the limited inter-connectedness between the UAE and UK financial systems, there are only few channels through which uncertainty about future UK and EU relations could affect the UAE financial institutions,” the country’s central bank said in a statement, asserting it would continue to monitor developments.

Have a terrific week.

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