Qatar set to probe the UAE’s currency manipulation bid
It was only a few days ago that plans for an audacious bid by the UAE to wage an economic war against Qatar was leaked.
The plan, which was found among emails belonging to the UAE’s ambassador in Washington Yousef Al Otaiba, revealed a complex strategy to attack the Qatari Riyal through bond and derivatives manipulation.
The plan talked about destabilising Qatar’s economy so that the country would eventually give up the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Qatar has taken a serious view of this and is investigating the allegations, reported Gulf Times.
Director of the Government Communications Office HE Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani said Qatar had opened an investigation into the alleged attempt to manipulate its currency during the early weeks of the Gulf political crisis, now in its sixth month.
Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed said that an unnamed global financial institution, partly owned by United Arab Emirates investors, had been instructed to stop trading Qatari riyals across Europe and Asia, according to The Peninsula.
The Director said that if the act of financial warfare was proven to be true, it would be a disgrace and danger not only to Qatar’s economy but the global one as well.
He said following the ‘instruction’ one of the financial institutions stopped trading in riyals for a few days and it was only after Qatar reached out to them that they resumed the trading.
He said Qatar’s intelligence agencies are carrying out an investigation and have engaged with law enforcement officials in the relevant jurisdictions.
“The Qatari government, through its various entities including the central bank, is working on confirming and identifying these reports.”
