The currency of Qatar is the Qatari riyal and has the ISO code QAR. The abbreviations QR or ر.ق are common.
The Qatari riyal is 3.64 / 1 against the US dollar. One Qatari riyal is divided into 100 dirhams. The currency belongs to the state of Qatar.
Banknotes:
In Qatar, the central bank issues banknotes to the denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 riyals. Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani is currently Governor of the Qatari Central Bank.
History of the currency of Qatar
The riyal has been the currency in Qatar since 1966. The name is derived from the Spanish real, which historically was the currency of Spain. Before the riyal, the Gulf rupee was the currency of Qatar for 7 years and the Saudi riyal for a short time.
It is currently being considered whether it makes sense to replace the riyal with a common currency in the Gulf States.
Qatar economy
As many now know, Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world due to its abundant oil and gas reserves. Qatar’s government intends to develop an ecological and sustainable economic system that is the size of the country.
The education system and environmental friendliness are also gaining increasing importance, in addition to fossil fuels. Internationally, Qatar has long been a reliable partner for many European countries.
As mentioned before, the main sources of income for Qatar are oil, natural gas, fertilizers and industrial chemicals. In 2004 the gross domestic product was 20%, of which 0.2% was generated by the agricultural industry, 62.2% by other industries and 37.6% by the service sector. In 2005 inflation averaged 4.5%. Qatar’s oil and fuel make up almost 93% of total exports, followed by petrochemicals and manufactured goods. The largest buyers of fertilizers and petrochemicals are China and India. The largest single importer of crude oil is Japan.
Exchange into local currency
It is usually better to first exchange the euro for Qatar riyals in Qatar, as the exchange rates are cheaper than in Germany. That means in Qatar you get more for the euro than here. If you withdraw your credit card from an ATM of a larger bank, the exchange rate is usually the cheapest.