Doha – Mubasher: Qatar is able to protect its economy and currency after the diplomatic rift that occurred last week with some Arab countries, Reuters reported on Monday, citing Qatar’s minister of finance Ali Shareef Al Emadi as telling TV channel CNBC.
While the diplomatic rift was “unfortunate”, but "understandable," there was no need to worry as Doha has all the tools required to defend its economy and currency, Al Emadi noted.
Qatar will not be the only loser in this situation, he added.
"Families are being disrupted around these countries," The minister stated during his interview with CNBC
Discarding expectations of a financial market meltdown, the minister, who is also the president of Qatar Airways’ executive board, stated: "We are going to make sure that we are even more diversified than we were before."
Throughout last week, the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) retreated 7.1%, while the Qatari riyal has been falling against the greenback on worries of capital outflows, according to Reuters.
"Our reserves and investment funds are more than 250% of gross domestic product (GDP), so I don't think there is any reason that people need to be concerned about what's happening or any speculation on the Qatari riyal,” the minister indicated.
“We're still a AA country and we're one of the top 20 or 25 globally on our ratings... so I think we are very much better than a lot of people around us," Al Emadi concluded.
Last week Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE were among the Arab and Gulf states who broke ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar’s access to sea, land, air ports were also partly blocked.
