Qatari banks reducing dollar sales to foreign lenders

Several Qatari banks are becoming less willing to sell dollars to foreign lenders, a new Bloomberg report suggested on Tuesday.

According to several people Bloomberg interviewed anonymously, foreign exchange activity between local and international banks is almost at a standstill while Qatar’s central bank is still providing dollars to local lenders to meet domestic business needs at the pegged rate of 3.64 riyals per dollar.

As recently as Monday, the Qatari riyal fell as low as 3.80 versus the US dollar, the lowest since 1988 according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To get the dollar to finance imports and some commercial activities for local clients, foreign banks are resorting to an offshore market at much higher prices, which may prompt them to pass these increases to their customers, including those in Qatar.