With stronger local currencies the state would get fewer dirhams, dinars or riyals for every petrodollar.

ECONOMIST: Gulf economies

Kingdom Holding shares have fallen 23% since then to a recent 7.95 Saudi riyals.

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The chambers of commerce now have women's sections and billions of riyals are invested in women's education.

ECONOMIST: Putting Saudi women to work

Bulk goods shoppers in need of a cart can pay 20 riyals to one of the elderly men pushing wheelbarrows.

BBC: Souq Waqif, Doha��s resilient, labyrinthine market

"Some people are going into branches, collecting forms and then selling them for around 50 riyals, " he added.

BBC: Mobile phones are popular in Saudi Arabia

It also paid 735.8m riyals for the right to operate a 3G system, which will allow users to access more sophisticated audio and video services.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Saudi phone sector gets $1bn lift

Kingdom Holding shares, which are only available to Saudi nationals and institutions, were trading at 21.70 riyals three years ago, according to the Saudi stock exchange, more than twice the current price of 9.25 riyals.

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The fact that most Gulf currencies are already, in effect, pegged to each other means the benefits of union are limited compared with those in the EU. Travellers can already use Qatari riyals in a Saudi supermarket, for instance.

ECONOMIST: Monetary union in the Gulf

Depending on whether investors buy the soccer clubs as well as the land on which the clubs' assets are sited, the General Presidency of Youth Welfare could raise more than 5 billion Saudi riyals, according to the same member of the committee.

WSJ: Saudi Arabia Seeks to Upgrade Domestic Professional Soccer