Equipped with $340 bn reserves to weather any Arab sanction: Qatar

DUBAI: Qatar has $340 billion in reserves that could help the Gulf country to weather the isolation by its powerful Arab neighbours, central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud al-Thani said.

“This is the credibility of our system, we have enough cash to preserve any... kind of shock,” he told the CNBC news channel in an interview published early on Monday on its website.

Al-Thani said the central bank has $40 billion in reserves plus gold, while the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund has $ 300 billion in reserves that it could liquidate.


Qatari stocks have weakened and the riyal has been volatile in the spot market since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of backing terrorism. Doha has denied these allegations.

“Qatar has already had a good and unique system. We have laws established against all these kinds of terrorists,” al-Thani told CNBC. “We work with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other institutions to establish our laws and audits and reviews.”