By: Eman Ghaly
Mubasher: Qatar's foreign reserves dropped 17.9% year-on-year, or QAR 136.81billion ($37.57 billion), in February 2018, according to the Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) monthly monetary bulletin on Thursday.
Since June 2016, overseas reserves of the gas-rich nation lost 16.04% or QAR 26.72 billion to register QAR 166.53 billion after four Arab countries — the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt — severed their economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar.
Month-on-month, international reserves of the world's richest country per capita inched down 0.2% for the fourth month in a row.
Moreover, foreign-currency liquid assets declined to QAR 72.47 billion in the second month of 2018, down from QAR 72.68 billion in the same period the year before, according to the statement.
On the other hand, Qatar’s special drawing rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declined to QAR 1.43 billion in February, compared to QAR 1.44 in January.
QCB’s deposits at international banks levelled up to QAR 45.54 billion in February versus QAR 44.27 in the prior month.
Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein
