The Central Banks of Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut their key interest rates on Wednesday, following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to slash rates for the second time this year. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) cut its repo rate, used to lend money to banks, to 250 basis points (bps) from 275bps, and the reverse repo, the rate at which commercial banks deposit money with the Central Bank, by the same margin to 200bps. UAE’s Central Bank also cut rates applied on the issuance of certificates of deposits by 25 bps, effective Sept. 19, and reduced the repo rate for borrowing short-term liquidity by 25bps. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Central Bank kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3%. The rate was kept unchanged for the second consecutive meeting, given that Kuwait has skipped a few of the previous rate hikes.