Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governer Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al-Thani has updated that the apex bank is contemplating the introduction of a new system for issuing electronic cheques in consultation with respective authorities as a substitute to paper cheques leading to lesser bounced cheques and related issues.
The governor added that the new regulations introduced by the QCB are well capable to limit bounces while the institution continues to work with official bodies and agencies in the country to update checks instructions to limit bounced checks in the country.
Expressing his view on the role taken by QCB in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, Mr. Al-Thani stated that the bank has developed one of the best national systems for combating money laundering and terrorism financing in line with the best international standards and rules which goes through constant updates of laws and instructions.
The QCB Chief remarked that the flexibility of the country’s economy is a result of several factors including the central bank’s policy measures and the larger economic diversification plans employed by the country.
The Central Bank governor observed that the current reserves in place are more than sufficient to cover the issued cash on the one hand, and also to meet the purchases of local banks of dollars within the exchange rate policy, as well as for monetary policy purposes.
He reemphasized that QCB’s international reserves and foreign currency liquidity to the issued cash had amounted to more than 793 percent in May 2020 which is more than eight times the percentage that is required by law and must not be less than 100 percent.
The QCB governor added that the value of international reserves and foreign currency liquidity at the bank at the end of May 2020 amounted to about 203 billion riyals, equivalent to about $56 billion.
The QCB chief stressed that the financial stability in Qatar contributes to the success of its financial institutions, pointing out that the healthy growth of the real economy and financial stability reinforce each other to achieve economic prosperity for Qatar.
