Saudi Arabia has injected $5.3bn of liquidity into the banking system to stave off a financial crunch as the oil slump drags on and capital continues to leak out the country.

Three-month interbank offered rates in Riyadh - the stress gauge watched by traders - have reached the highest since the Lehman crisis, ratcheting up 145 basis points over the last year.

The M3 money supply has contracted by 8pc in twelve months. The loan-to-deposit ratio has already blown through the government's safety ceiling of 90pc, touching an all-time high.

"Deposits are falling and liquidity has been tightening for month after month," said Patrick Dennis from Oxford Economics.

Mr Dennis said the authorities have tapped the local bond markets for $42bn since mid-2015 to slow the depletion of foreign reserves, but this has led to a squeeze on the financial system.

While there is no immediate crisis, Saudi Arabia faces a difficult balancing act and may struggle to maintain its fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. The currency peg is deemed the anchor of stability by the Kingdom, but it is also the cause of slow economic asphyxiation. It contrast with the ruble flexibility enjoyed by Russia as it rolls with the punches.