Qatar’s reserves rise 1.24 percent as gold and bank balances replace foreign bonds
Qatar’s total international reserves and foreign currency liquidity stood at 262.114 billion riyals at the end of June 2026, up 1.24 percent from 258.898 billion riyals a year earlier. Official international reserves rose 1.48 percent, or 2.963 billion riyals, to 202.629 billion riyals.
The composition moved considerably more than the total.
| Component of official reserves, billions of riyals | End-June 2026 | Change year on year | Percent change, our calculation | Share of official reserves, our calculation, June 2025 to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign bonds and treasury bills | 97.160 | minus 34.980 | minus 26.47 percent | 66.18 to 47.95 percent |
| Gold | 54.595 | plus 10.099 | plus 22.70 percent | 22.28 to 26.94 percent |
| Balances with foreign banks | 45.687 | plus 27.919 | plus 157.13 percent | 8.90 to 22.55 percent |
| Special drawing rights deposits with the IMF | 5.186 | minus 0.075 | minus 1.43 percent | 2.63 to 2.56 percent |
| Total official international reserves | 202.629 | plus 2.963 | plus 1.48 percent | 100 percent |
The four movements reconcile exactly to the headline. On our calculation, gold of plus 10.099 billion riyals and bank balances of plus 27.919 billion riyals, against foreign bonds and treasury bills of minus 34.980 billion riyals and special drawing rights of minus 0.075 billion riyals, sum to plus 2.963 billion riyals – the whole of the annual increase in official reserves. That is the substance of the release: a headline that moved little and an internal reallocation out of fixed income and into gold and liquid bank balances.
The shares are the clearer way to see it. Foreign bonds and treasury bills fell from roughly two thirds of official reserves to a little under half in twelve months. Balances with foreign banks went from under a tenth to more than a fifth. Gold moved from a little over 22 percent to a little under 27 percent. The special drawing rights position was essentially unchanged in both size and share.
Why it matters: the reallocation is the signal, and its direction is specific. Moving close to 35 billion riyals out of foreign bonds and treasury bills into gold and balances with foreign banks raises the liquidity of the reserve portfolio and, on our reading, reduces its exposure to fixed income duration risk, while increasing exposure to the gold price and to bank counterparties. It also places Qatar alongside the broader trend of official gold accumulation. With a currency peg to maintain, reserve composition is one of the few levers that moves.
Looking ahead: the end-July reserves data are due shortly, since the central bank normally publishes around the seventh or eighth of the month, and will show whether the rotation into gold and bank balances continued through July.
Sources: Qatar Central Bank data on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, end-June 2026, reported by Qatar News Agency, 8 July 2026.
