DOHA: The foreign currency reserves and foreign currency liquidity of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) increased by 3.89 percent year-on-year to reach QR250.981 billion in July 2024 compared to QR241.572 billion in the same period of 2023.
The figures released on Wednesday by QCB showed an increase in its official reserves at the end of July 2024, compared to what it was at the end of the same month in 2023, by roughly QR9.038 billion to reach QR192.157 billion, owing to the increase in QCB's balances of foreign bonds and treasury bills by around QR1.091 billion, to reach QR138.697 billion in July 2024.
The reserves consist of key categories: bonds and foreign treasury bills, balances with foreign banks, gold, and Special Drawing Rights (SDR), and Qatar's share at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In addition to the official reserves, there are other liquid assets (Foreign Currency Deposits), so the two together constitute what is known as the total foreign reserves.
Gold reserves increased, as of the end of July 2024, by about QR8.551 billion compared to July 2023 to reach QR30.682 billion.
Balances with foreign banks declined by nearly QR457 million, to the level of QR17.610 billion at the end of July 2024, compared to July 2023.
The balance of special drawing rights deposits from Qatar's share with the IMF decreased by QR147 million by the end of July 2024, compared to July 2023, reaching QR5.166 billion.