International reserves and liquidity in foreign currencies at the Qatar Central Bank increased last December, by 9.6 percent on an annual basis, to reach 230.026 billion riyals, compared to 209.932 billion riyals in the same period last year, while it recorded a monthly growth of 2.7 percent compared to November 2022.
Today, the figures issued by the Qatar Central Bank showed an increase in the official international reserves of the Qatar Central Bank to reach 172.092 billion riyals at the end of last December, a growth rate of 12.4 percent, compared to 153.103 billion riyals in the same period in 2021, while it recorded a growth of 3.6 percent compared to a month ago, November 2022, which at that time amounted to 166.109 billion riyals, driven by a jump in the central balances of bonds and foreign treasury bills by 20.4 percent, to about 131.772 billion riyals last December compared to the level of 109.401 billion riyals in December 2021.
The official reserves consist of the main components: foreign bonds and bills, cash balances with foreign banks, gold holdings, special drawing rights deposits, and the share of the State of Qatar in the International Monetary Fund.
In addition to the official reserves, there are other liquid assets (deposits in foreign currency), so that the two together form what is known as the total international reserves.
On the other hand, the balance of special drawing rights deposits from the share of the State of Qatar in the International Monetary Fund decreased by the end of December 2022 to 5.258 billion riyals, compared to 5.518 billion riyals in the same period last year.
Balances with foreign banks also decreased to 15.469 billion riyals at the end of December 2022 compared to the level of 26.135 billion riyals in December 2021. On the other hand, gold stocks increased at the end of December 2022 to 19.591 billion riyals, compared to 12.047 billion riyals in December last year.