Mubasher: The international reserves and foreign currency held with Qatar Central Bank (QCB) rose 12.7% month-on-month in May, but were still lower than the levels seen before the sanctions imposed by Arab states, according to official data released Thursday.
Qatar’s foreign reserves grew to QAR 163.12 billion ($44.81 billion) in the fifth month of 2018, hitting an 11-month high, compared to QAR 144.7 billion ($39.75 billion) in April, the QCB’s monthly monetary bulletin revealed.
The monthly growth came as official reserves climbed 24.7% to QAR 90.14 billion in May from QAR 72.3 billion in the preceding month.
Moreover, the country’s foreign reserves in international banks rose 18.9% to QAR 61.5 billion in May from QAR 51.7 in the previous month, the QCB said.
Foreign-currency liquid assets totalled QAR 72.98 billion last month, slightly higher than QAR 72.43 billion achieved in the year-ago.
However, Qatar’s special drawing rights (SDRs) held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dropped to QAR 1.41 billion in May from QAR 1.73 billion, while the country’s holdings of gold with the IMF amounted to QAR 4.05 billion, down month-on-month from QAR 4.12 billion.
On an annual basis, Qatar’s international reserves went down 2.05% to QAR 163.12 billion in May, from QAR 166.53 billion ($45.83 billion).
