Banks from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and India risk losing millions of dollars due to their exposure to Finablr Plc, the foreign-exchange operator that’s preparing for potential insolvency, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, National Bank of Fujairah, Commercial Bank International and Bank of Baroda are still owed about $300 million by Finablr’s parent BRS Ventures, which is owned by Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, some of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
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Qatar’s banks eased repayment terms on real-estate loans, according to the chief executive officer of Doha Bank QSC, after the Saudi Arabia-led standoff hurt property prices, Bloomberg News reported. “Cash flows have been redefined, debt has been restructured to see that debt-servicing capacity is not in danger in the coming days for real estate owners,” Raghavan Seetharaman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday.
Qatar threw a $500 million lifeline to Lebanon because of what it sees as its mission to be the Middle East’s emergency lender to nations in distress, according to the country’s foreign minister, Bloomberg News reported.
Qatar said on Monday it plans to buy $500 million of Lebanese government bonds to help support one of the world’s most indebted countries, Bloomberg News reported. Eurobonds rallied by the most since September. Lebanon’s struggling economy needs a cash infusion to reassure bond holders still reeling from mixed remarks by officials about the possibility of debt restructuring this month.
Rising geopolitical tensions are increasingly playing out in the global debt markets, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Russia’s launch this week of the sale of a euro-denominated bond is just the latest example.
Qatar Airways is reviewing plans for its own domestic Indian airline due to “confusing” foreign ownership rules and could work with a partner in India or take a stake in IndiGo instead, its chief executive said on Tuesday. The state-owned Gulf carrier has long coveted the Indian aviation market, which is the fastest growing in the world, and in 2017 said it would set up a domestic airline, a year after India eased foreign investment rules for the sector, Reuters reported.
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Credit Suisse Group AG plans to buy back about 5.9 billion francs ($6 billion) of debt issued after the financial crisis to the Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Olayan family to cut funding costs, Bloomberg News reported. The bank will redeem the contingent convertible bonds -- which automatically become equity when reserves fall below pre-set levels -- on Oct. 23, the first opportunity to do so, according to a statement from the bank on Tuesday.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found a benefactor to help pull Turkey from the brink of a financial crisis as Qatar promised to invest $15 billion in the country, Bloomberg News reported. The lira extended gains to 6 percent after Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Bin Al Thani made the pledge after a 3-1/2-hour meeting with Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday. It follows a string of urgent steps Erdogan has taken to protect its economy from an escalating feud with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump over an American pastor held in Turkey.
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Qatari phone carrier Ooredoo QSC decided to bid for the insolvent owner of Turkey’s biggest telecommunications company to rival an offer from Saudi Telecom Co., three people with knowledge of the matter said. Ooredoo will seek to acquire Ojer Telekomunikasyon AS, or Otas, a special purpose vehicle that owns 55 percent of Turk Telekomunikasyon AS, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private, Bloomberg News reported. The Saudi proposal remains on the table, they said.
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Qatar is telling its banks to tap international investors to raise financing, instead of mainly relying on government funding, as the impact of the ongoing Saudi-led boycott puts pressure on liquidity, the Irish Times reported. The central bank is holding regular meetings with lenders to gauge how the standoff is affecting liquidity, and is encouraging banks to borrow internationally through bonds and loans to avoid further depletion of foreign reserves and credit-rating downgrades, said sources who asked not to be identified because the matter was private.
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