Qatar central bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity rose slightly in October, official data showed on Monday, as capital outflows caused by sanctions imposed by other Arab states appeared to ease.
The reserves and liquidity, a measure of the central bank's ability to support the riyal currency, rose to $36.1bn in October from $35.6bn in September.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Doha in June.
International reserves and foreign currency liquidity stood at $45.8bn in May, before the diplomatic crisis erupted.
Capital outflows were relatively heavy in the initial months after the sanctions were imposed but appear to have eased in the last few months because the other Arab states have now pulled out most of their deposits, loans and portfolio investments from Qatar, leaving relatively little money left to withdraw.
Official data released last week showed foreign customers' deposits at banks in Qatar fell by only QR5.1bn ($1.4bn) from the previous month in October, to QR137.7bn. The decline was slower than falls of QR6.2bn in September, QR8.2bn in August, QR13.4bn in July and QR14.0bn in June.
