Riyal rate to help students

Saudi riyal-British pound exchange rate Jeddah - Arabstoday   The exchange rate of the British pound will be revised for Saudi students studying in Britain, business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Wednesday, quoting a senior official of the Higher Education Ministry. "The ministries of higher education, foreign affairs, finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) are considering revising the exchange rate of the British pound for Saudi students studying in the UK," the official said. Undersecretary of the ministry for scholarships Abdullah Al-Musa said the pound used to be worth SR8 but now its price has come down to SR5.8. Under the scholarship program of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, every Saudi student in Britain is paid monthly 1,168 pounds. Al-Musa denied claims Saudi students in Britain were suffering from the high cost of living and pointed to other foreign students who have to work or borrow to sustain themselves and pay for their education. "We only want our students to study hard and come home with good degrees," he said. He described the king's scholarship program as successful and said only 7 percent of students on the program did not obtain their degrees. "The low number of those not graduating is an indication of the success of the program," he said.