890F.515/80: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister Resident in Saudi Arabia (Moose)
112. Following for your strictly confidential background information with reference to Cairo’s 2249, December 6, 9 p.m. from you and Landis.
It is contemplated that the plan outlined in Department’s 111, December 15 to Jidda as a means of securing riyals for the Legation and for commercial companies will serve as a preliminary step in the establishment of an independent Saudi Arabian currency system whereby Saudi Arabian currency may be acquired directly for dollars. The Treasury is working on a plan for the establishment of such a currency system, calling for joint American and British participation. On November 30 an aide-mémoire was delivered to the British Embassy14 suggesting joint discussions in Washington on Saudi Arabian financial and currency matters in the near future, but no reply has yet been received. These developments have been set forth in some detail in the enclosures to Department’s instruction no. 99 of December 7, 1943.15
Several American banks are giving serious consideration to the establishment of a branch in Saudi Arabia, and it is believed that one of them may decide in the near future to do so.