The measures include the option to defer loan principal and interest payments for up to three months for customers affected by “current circumstances”, the central bank said on Monday. The Qatari central bank will reduce the reserve requirement on deposits from 4.5% to 3.5% to release additional liquidity. Qatar is facing fallouts from Tehran’s retaliation as the US-Israeli war on Iran has stretched beyond a month. QCB is the first central bank in the region to have permitted banks to allow three-month loan deferrals. The provision echoes similar emergency forbearance programmes deployed across the Gulf during the pandemic years of 2020–2021, when regulators including the UAE central bank and the Saudi central bank allowed payment suspensions to cushion borrowers against income shocks.

Source: The Edge Markets March 30, 2026 08:22 UTC