DUBAI (Reuters) – The Saudi Arabian riyal hit a 21-year high and the Qatar riyal a five-year high after a Dubai-based magazine said the United Arab Emirates could allow the dirham to appreciate 3 to 5 percent as early as Sunday.

Bids on the dollar-pegged Saudi riyal were as high as 3.6900 per dollar, the strongest since 1986, and bids on the Qatar riyal hit 3.6250 per dollar, the highest since November 2002.

The UAE dirham hit its highest in at least 17 years on Wednesday after the online Arabian Business magazine report, in which the weekly publication did not identify sources.