Saudi Arabia's central bank practices prudence on a global scale
From Bedouin tent encampments to the traffic-choked streets of Riyadh and Jidda, Saudi Arabians by the hundreds of thousands turned introspective last week as religious sentiment swept their land. It was the start of Ramadan, the high holy month of Islamic fasting. But Ramadan or not, it was also pretty much business as usual in one imposing Riyadh office building. Inside the high-rise tower that houses the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), computers kept humming and clerks kept counting as petrodollars continued to cascade...