CENTRAL BANK SAYS QATAR CAN WEATHER ARAB SANCTIONS

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 on Monday.

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.

“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.”

TILLERSON IN GULF FOR TALKS ON CRISIS

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Kuwait on Monday for talks aimed at resolving the Qatar diplomatic crisis.

In Doha, a Western diplomat said creation of a “terror finance monitoring mechanism” would feature in the talks, but declined to elaborate.

The State Department said Tillerson, who forged extensive ties in the Gulf as CEO of ExxonMobil, would hold talks with leaders in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

He was flying from Istanbul where he attended an international petroleum conference. Tillerson would explore ways to end a stalemate following Qatar’s rejection of 13 demands issued by the Arab states.