Doha, Qatar – The international reserves and foreign currency liquidity of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) surged last July to reach QR 241.572 billion ($66.26 billion), marking a 14.13 percent increase compared to QR 211.325 billion ($58.17 billion) in the same month the previous year.
The data released on Monday by QCB revealed a rise in its official reserves at the close of the last month, compared to the same period the preceding year, by QR 29.229 billion ($7.96 billion), reaching QR 183.119 billion ($50.44 billion). This increase was propelled by a growth in the central balances of bonds and foreign treasury bills, which expanded by around QR 24.464 billion ($6.38 billion), reaching QR 137.606 billion ($36.24 billion) in July 2023.
The official reserves comprise key components, including foreign bonds and bills, cash balances held with foreign banks, gold holdings, deposits of special drawing rights, and Qatar’s stake in the International Monetary Fund.
In addition to the official reserves, there are other liquid assets (Foreign Currency Deposits), and collectively, these constitute what is referred to as the total foreign reserves.
In a related context, gold reserves increased to $6.07 billion as of the end of July 2023, reflecting an increase of about $1.34 billion compared to same period last year.
Concurrently, Qatar’s allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) deposits at the IMF expanded by QR 120 million ($32 million ) by the end of July 2023, as compared to July 2022, reaching a total of QR 5.313 billion ($1.46 billion).
Balances held in foreign banks experienced a decline of QR 2.545 billion ($699 million), reaching QR 18.067 billion ($4.95 billion) by the end of July 2023.