Saudi Riyal coins to gradually replace notes

Agencies

May 24, 2018

Jeddah, May 24: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) announced that new riyal coins will replace one riyal notes starting from Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

It said paper currencies will still be traded alongside the new coins until until all the one riyal notes are gradually phased out across banks, as planned.

SAMA said the coin has been coined under the patronage of King Salman and has received great attention and care, while relying on detailed studies on the world’s latest technology in coin industry.

It said the new designs come in small sizes, along with shapes and colors different from the previous coin designs.

The agency had earlier unveiled the new design of coins in different denominations, including the one riyal and the new two riyal coins. The other coins are in the 50-halala, 25-halala, 10-halala and one-halala denominations.

During the launch of the annual release of monetary currency, SAMA said that procedures were in place for handling the coins in all commercial banks across the Kingdom.

SAMA urged all commercial banks to facilitate the circulation of the currency by installing high speed checking machines in their branches and cash centers, and providing machines to accept depositing coins.

It stated that the new riyal coin is an integral part of the national currency that will be traded alongside the note riyal, and that the refusal of circulating coins will expose violators to penalties.

It also noted that the decision to replace the one riyal notes with riyal coins has many positive effects on the Saudi economy.

Adding that the existence of the one riyal notes in circulation affected the selling of riyal coins, and at times led to its rejection by traders.

This resulted in rejecting denominations of the coin, which in turn led shop owners to feel less urged to provide coins. Such widespread negative practices contributed to the rejection of the coin.

It said the number of banknotes traded in the riyal notes category make up 49% from the amount of banknotes in circulation across the country because they do not enter the natural cycle of cashflow, due to being transferred among traders for long periods of time, during which the paper currency becomes severely worn out.

It noted that among the benefits of the decision is that the average coin life expectancy is estimated at twenty to twenty-five years, compared to the life expectancy of paper currency, which is estimated between twelve months and eighteen months, depending on the conditions of circulation.

It also noted that coins are efficient for recycling, and their transfer and preservation remain easier that paper currency.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

Comments