Three Gulf central banks hike rates to avert currency pressure after Fed move

By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain raised interest rates within minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to do so on Wednesday as they scrambled to avoid downward pressure on their currencies due to low oil prices. Early this year, speculators attacked the Saudi riyal and other Gulf currencies as cheap oil pushed the state finances of those countries into deficit. The riyal and most other Gulf Arab currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.