Monetary policy is constrained by the Qatari riyal's peg to the US dollar. In October 2008, when the US cut its main interest rate to 1% (and then later to 0.25%), the Qatar Central Bank broke with its previous policy of mirroring US rate changes and held rates steady, but it has recently announced a 50-basis-point reduction in its deposit rate, to 1.5%, bringing it more into line with the US rate. However, the official lending rate has remained fixed at 5.5% since 2006 and is unlikely to be lowered as inflation picks up from the lows of 2009. Speculative flows will be dampened by the decision to not press ahead with the GCC single currency, which will mean that the authorities are unlikely to consider a revision to Qatar's exchange-rate regime. Separately, Qatar will maintain its support for the banking system, retaining substantial equity stakes in domestic banks (including additional 5% stakes taken in December 2009) and holding on to parts of their domestic loan books until liquidity concerns have eased in the latter part of the forecast period.