Amid Gulf crisis, Qatar says ready to withstand shock with USD 340 bn in reserves

Dubai: Qatar has $340 billion in reserves including holdings of its sovereign wealth fund that could help the Gulf country to weather the isolation by its powerful Arab neighbours, central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud al-Thani told CNBC.

“This is the credibility of our system, we have enough cash to preserve any..kind of shock,” he told the news channel in an interview published early on Monday on its website.

Read: Gulf crisis: Financing terror allegations 'baseless', says Qatar to Arab states

Al-Thani said the central bank has $40 billion in reserves plus gold, while the Qatar Investment Authority has $300 billion in reserves that it could liquidate.

Qatari stocks have weakened and the riyal has been volatile in the spot market since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of backing terrorism. Dona has denied these allegations.

Read: Gulf crisis: Arab nations slam Qatar's non-compliance as threat to security

“Qatar has already had a good and unique system. We have laws established against all these kinds of terrorists ,” al Thani told CNBC.“We work with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other institutions to establish our laws and audits and reviews.”