Qatar's official reserves jump 10.7% to 223.45 billion riyals

Summary

• Qatar Central Bank's official reserves rose 10.7% year-on-year in October to 223.450 billion riyals.
• Total international reserves and foreign currency liquidity edged up 0.325% monthly to 262.289 billion riyals.
• The build-up strengthens the riyal's peg defenses and Qatar's buffer against external shocks.

The latest

Qatar Central Bank's official international reserves climbed 10.70% over twelve months to 223.450 billion riyals at the end of October 2026, a gain of 21.606 billion riyals, according to data the bank published. Total international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, a broader measure, reached 262.289 billion riyals, up 0.325% from the previous month's 261.437 billion.

Details

• The headline number: Official reserves stood at 223.450 billion riyals at the close of October 2026, according to Qatar Central Bank data, against the same month of 2025. The 21.606 billion riyal increase represents the annual change in the narrower official measure rather than the broader liquidity aggregate.
• The monthly move: International reserves and foreign currency liquidity rose 0.325% month-on-month to 262.289 billion riyals, compared with 261.437 billion riyals a month earlier, the central bank reported. The monthly gain is marginal next to the double-digit annual expansion in the official component.
• Composition shift: Balances held at foreign banks jumped by 66.040 billion riyals year-on-year to 78.169 billion riyals at the end of October, according to the data. That single line accounts for a larger sum than the entire net annual increase in official reserves.
• Bonds down sharply: Holdings of foreign bonds and treasury bills fell by about 42.110 billion riyals over the year, settling at 87.847 billion riyals in October 2026, the central bank said. The instrument remains the largest single component of the official reserve stock.
• Gold holdings: The gold stock declined by roughly 2.292 billion riyals to 52.258 billion riyals at the end of October, against 54.550 billion riyals in the same month of 2025, according to the data. No explanation for the drawdown was given in the release.
• IMF position: Special drawing rights deposits tied to Qatar's quota at the International Monetary Fund slipped by 30 million riyals year-on-year to 5.176 billion riyals at the end of October, the central bank reported — the smallest movement among the reported components.
• What counts as reserves: Official reserves comprise foreign bonds and treasury bills, cash balances at foreign banks, gold holdings, special drawing rights deposits and Qatar's IMF quota. Adding other liquid assets in the form of foreign currency deposits produces the total international reserves figure.
• The gap: The difference between the 262.289 billion riyal total and the 223.450 billion riyal official measure sits at roughly 38.8 billion riyals, representing the other liquid foreign currency assets outside the official reserve definition.
• Also: Gold holdings and foreign treasury bills fell, while balances at foreign banks surged.

Background

Qatar maintains a fixed peg of the riyal to the US dollar, which makes the central bank's foreign reserve stock the primary instrument for defending the exchange rate. Monthly reserve data is published by Qatar Central Bank as part of its routine disclosure of monetary indicators.

Between the lines

The composition tells a different story than the headline. A 42.110 billion riyal drop in foreign bonds and treasury bills alongside a 66.040 billion riyal surge in balances at foreign banks points to a rotation out of securities and into cash deposits. That shift raises immediate liquidity at the expense of yield-bearing instruments, and the simultaneous reduction in gold moves the portfolio further toward short-dated holdings.

What's next

Qatar Central Bank publishes reserve data monthly, so November figures will show whether the shift from bonds into bank deposits continues or reverses, and whether the gold drawdown extends.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA), citing Qatar Central Bank data