QCB set to issue QR4bn T-Bills

31/07/2014 10:14 AST

The T-bills, to be issued on Tuesday, will include QR2bn worth for three month period and QR1bn each of six-month and nine-month maturity period, the Central Bank said on its website.

QCB has been selling monthly T-bills for the past couple of years.

According to market experts, local treasury bills are used as a liquidity management tool. The issuance of bonds and T-bills will help reduce the supply of money in the market and also ease inflationary pressures. QCB’s latest data on the country’s money supply noted that the M1, a measure of the money supply that includes all physical money, has reached QR10.82bn as in June, compared to QR4.6bn a year ago. M1 measures the most liquid component of money supply. The M2, a broader measure of money supply, has increased to QR483bn in the first half of 2014 compared to QR461 a year ago.

The Central Bank’s net foreign assets reached QR152bn in the second quarter, compared to QR147bn in the first quarter of 2014. The net international reserves touched QR145bn in Q2, compared to QR151bn in Q1, 2014, and up from QR128bn recorded year ago. QCB’s assets in gold rose to QR2.41bn in June 2014 from QR2.33 in March 2014. The bank’s balance with foreign banks increased to QR53bn in Q2, from QR48bn in Q1, 2014.

QCB’s total assets increased to QR210bn in Q2 from QR203bn in the first quarter of 2014.

The total assets of commercial banks in Qatar jumped to QR955bn in June 2014, from QR874bn from a year ago. The total assets in Q1, 14 stood at QR946bn. The banks’ non-resident deposit in Q2, 14 rose to QR33bn from QR30bn recorded in the previous quarter. Resident deposit increased to QR558bn from QR550bn.

The Peninsula