Qatar

The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is the supreme monetary regulatory agency of the State of Qatar. The entity was established in 1973 (as the Qatar Monetary Agency) in the country's capital, Doha. This is based on the statutory mandate of Law No. 13 of 2012. Its functions include formulating and implementing the state's monetary policies, managing the state's foreign exchange reserves, and ensuring the stability of the currency on the fixed exchange rate of US $1 = QR 3.64. The head of the central bank is Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani. In carrying out its operations, the QCB is the supreme supervisory agency of all mainland commercial banks, Islamic financial institutions, insurance corporations, investment companies, and FinTech providers in the state.

The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) regulates the country's monetary system through monetary policies aimed at maintaining the stability of the Qatari Riyal and ensuring its fixed exchange rate peg against the US Dollar [3.64]. The QCB helps stimulate economic growth and control the inflation level by controlling liquidity in the banking system, determining the key interest rates, and managing the country's payments system, including cross-border payment processing among the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The QCB is also responsible for licensing the operation of and supervising the business activities of all commercial banks, Islamic banks, insurance companies, and fintech companies in the country as per Law No. 13 of 2012. Moreover, the QCB works with other international organizations to ensure stringent anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regulations, maintains the foreign currency and gold reserves of the country, and prints the legal tender in Qatar.