Qatar has brought back more than $20 billion to cope with the boycott imposed by the Anti-Terrorism Quartet, which is formed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Qatari Finance Minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi said that his country has withdrawn more than $20 billion from investment funds and injected them into Qatari banks, in an effort to ease the repercussions of the boycott, the Financial Times reported.
Al-Emadi noted that the deposits brought from Qatar Investment Authority were being used to create a “buffer” and provide liquidity in the banking system as capital outflows in the wake of the crisis have reached more than $30 billion.
However, Qatari minister tried to play down the move, saying it was very natural for his country to bring liquidity from abroad, in the current situation, noting that what Doha has done was a “preventive and proactive action.”
The Financial Times quoted Al-Emadi as saying: “We are not liquidating anything. What we have done is taking some of our liquidity from outside to inside. This is through the Ministry of Finance and the QIA, which is very normal in this type of situation.”
Qatar Central Bank said in July that the volume of foreign deposits in Qatari banks fell significantly after the outbreak of the crisis with the four Arab countries.
Moody’s rating agency said in September that the Arab Peninsula had pumped $38.5 billion into its economy since the beginning of the crisis, in an attempt to protect the sector from the repercussions of the boycott imposed by the four countries.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) have reduced its holdings in Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank; Rosneft, the Russian energy company; and Tiffany & Co.
But Al-Emadi told The Financial Times that these moves were linked to the country’s investment strategy, not because of the crisis.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which was set up by the government in 2005 to manage the benefits of oil and natural gas, is estimated at $300 billion. Before the eruption of the crisis with Qatar, the Authority was one of the active funds that own shares in major companies such as Volkswagen and Barclays.
