The unit of the Saudi Currency shall be the Saudi Riyal. The Riyal shall be divided into 20 Saudi qirshes and each Saudi qirsh sub-divided into five halalas. 

 The value of the Saudi Riyal shall be equivalent to 0.197482 grams of fine gold. This value shall be known as "the parity rate". The parity rate shall not be amended except by a Royal Decree and in accordance with the provisions of international agreements to which Saudi Arabia is a party.

The minting, printing and issuance of the Saudi currency shall be the sole privilege of the Saudi Central Bank.

No one else shall encroach on this right.

In accordance with the suggestion of the Saudi Central Bank and the approval of the Minister of Finance, and in observance of the provisions of these regulations,

the Council of Ministers shall decide:

a. The denominations of paper currency and coins: -

1. Which may be issued for circulation.

2.Their shapes, designs, drawings, dimensions, contents, fineness, weights, size and all other specifications, quantities and costs;

3. The place where the dies, plates and specimen signatures of those authorized to sign on bank notes are to be kept in safe custody;

4. Safeguards against their counterfeiting,

5. And the place and timing of printing or minting.

b. Choice of banks in which the foreign currencies forming part of the currency cover (Kingdom's reserves) shall be deposited, provided that they must be first class banks.

c. Investment by the Saudi Central Bank of the Kingdom's foreign exchange reserves in foreign bonds in accordance with the usual practice adopted by central banks.

• The Saudi Central Bank, with the approval of the Minister of Finance, and in consideration of the provisions of this Law, decides:

  • A- The categories of paper and coin money that need to be exchanged or withdrawn from circulation due to not meeting the conditions that make them valid for circulation, and the method of action regarding them, or the loss of their legal tender status after a period of no less than one month, if the urgency of withdrawal is required in order to protect the public interest. This is in consideration of items (B) and (C) of this article.

  • B- The conditions that must be met in the currency consumed for it to be exchanged for another, taking into account that no transactions shall be made for banknotes that have lost their features or more than fifty percent of their area or their equivalent numbers or the two required signatures as per Article Eight of this Law, nor for coins that have lost their features or have been cut, melted, pierced, or washed with chemical means, or have been distorted or changed in shape, unless it is conclusively proven that what happened to them was due to force majeure; in this case, the judiciary has the right to rule for compensation for what is lost upon establishing that fact.

  • C- The seizure and confiscation of counterfeit and forged money, the method of action regarding it, and the organization of a report for its seizure and confiscation, and sending a copy of it to the relevant authorities for legal prosecution.

  • D- The publication and announcement of Saudi currency in the official gazette, and by any other appropriate means.

a. The Saudi Central Bank shall keep a full cover in gold and foreign currencies convertible into gold equal to the value of the currency it issues.

b. The Saudi Central Bank shall, under no circumstances, issue currency without full cover to be kept in safe custody in the Kingdom; however, cover other than

gold may be kept in deposit with first class banks abroad.

c. The cover shall be valued in accordance with the rate fixed in Article 2 of these Regulations.

d. On revaluation of the reserves any resultant increase shall be credited to the government and may be used for strengthening the currency and stabilizing its rate.

One Riyal notes, higher denomination notes and parts thereof  issued by the Saudi Central Bank shall be legal tender and shall be fully accepted for the settlement of all

debts and private and public obligations, but no one shall be obliged to accept sub-divisions of the Riyal for sums exceeding ten Riyals, except the Saudi Central Bank

and its branches and agencies which shall, in the public interest, accept, either for payment to the treasury or for exchanging them with other denominations, any amounts

of any denominations of the Saudi currency issued by it.

The notes shall be signed by the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Saudi Central Bank.

• The remaining Saudi gold pounds shall be withdrawn from circulation, and the Saudi gold pound shall lose its status as legal tender and its payment power from the date of publication of this Law. The holder of the Saudi gold pound may deliver it to the Saudi Central Bank within two months from the date of publication of this Law, in exchange for receiving forty Saudi riyals, and after the expiration of the mentioned period, it shall become a commodity.

The Saudi Central Bank shall keep a register in which it shall enter details of coins and paper currency kept in its vaults, those issued and those withdrawn

from circulation.