The Saudi Central Bank placed about 50 billion riyals ($13 billion) as time deposits with commercial lenders, according to people familiar with the matter, seeking to ease the worst liquidity crunch in over a decade. The intervention started just before the US Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike this month, and consisted of money provided to banks at a discount to the three-month Saudi Interbank Offered Rate, or Saibor, used as a benchmark to price loans, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The central bank, also known as SAMA, didn’t immediately respond to a request for ... (full story)