Ahead of Eid rush, Qatari exchanges get flush with cash
With the blockade on Qatar ongoing, there had been early fears that Qatar would face a shortage of cash.
Although expatriates initially rushed to exchange houses to remit cash to their home countries following rumours that Qatari Riyal was under trouble, it soon came to pass.
A brief shortage of Dollars had also been reported, following its unavailability from the UAE, but banks solved the problem by bringing it from new places like Hong Kong and Singapore.
And now, ahead of the Eid remittance rush, exchange houses in Qatar have assured ample supply of major currencies, reported Gulf Times.
Exchange officials emphasised that ‘business had normalised’ and that international sources and major banks in the country have supplied exchanges with their currency requirements.
“We’ve arranged for supply from other sources; even the banks have improved their supply of currencies in the market. The banks supported us; we got supply from financial institutions like Doha Bank and QNB.
“We also imported currencies from other sources like Oman and Kuwait, and we’ve developed our source of supply for the market,” KNS Das, general manager, Trust Exchange, told Gulf Times.
Das stressed that the exchange house had also replenished its supply for all legal tender, mainly the US dollar, euro, and British pound, among other international currencies.
“We don’t feel any shortage in the market; whatever the normal currencies in demand, it’s available with us and we try to provide to our customers,” he said.
In the run up to Eid al-Fitr, Das said the exchange is expecting a 10% to 15% increase in remittance volume over the previous month.
“Normally, the holy month of Ramadan is the best time for the remittance business. The trend this year is the same as in 2016, and according to our statistical data, we’re expecting remittances to increase during this period.
Qatar Tribune reported that people’s fears were gradually decreasing.
“Currently the business is going as usual. There’s no rush as we witnessed on June 5, when the crisis broke. Expatriates realised that the diplomatic crisis was unlikely to affect the strength of Qatari riyal against the currencies of their respective countries,” Al Daar Exchange Operations Manager Mohammed Ahmed told Qatar Tribune.
