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Qatar crisis: Lanka unlikely to be affected much
View(s):Sri Lanka is unlikely to be affected in the Qatar-Gulf spat unless the situation escalates into a protracted crisis that affects the sizeable migrant worker population there. Four Arab nations–Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt–cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, claiming the country supports ‘terrorist’ groups. Qatar has denied the allegation.
In Sri Lanka, there was confusion on Tuesday over currency acceptance when certain banks briefly stopped exchanging Qatari riyals.
They included State-run banks at the Bandaranaike International Airport. They later said this was because Singapore money changers, through whom the Sri Lankan banks convert various currencies into US dollars, had stopped accepting Qatari riyals.
But the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) quickly intervened: First, to say it had not issued instructions for financial institutions to suspend the exchange of Qatari riyals; then, to assure banks that CBSL was even willing to facilitate the physical transport of riyals to Qatar to have them changed into US dollars, if it were to come to that.
Sri Lanka’s trade with Qatar is also “negligible”, a Central Bank analyst said. Department of Commerce statistics show that, in 2015, Sri Lanka exported just US$ 13.31m worth of goods to the West Asian nation while imports amounted to US$ 35.58mn. Qatar bought only US$ 1.18m worth of Sri Lankan tea in 2015.
There were 1,547 Qatari tourists in Sri Lanka in 2015, according to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority data. Qatar Airways ferried in 137,091 of Sri Lanka’s total tourist arrivals of 1,798,380 the same year.
“All our flights are now going through Iraq,” said a Sri Lankan Qatar Airways pilot based in Doha. “It is a slightly longer trip and increases the cost slightly but we are operating as usual. We are catering to all destinations but the four countries that cut diplomatic ties with Qatar
Where Sri Lanka could experience a negative impact is with regards to its estimated 140,000 strong workforce in Qatar–that, too, if the crisis last so long as to affect the country’s economic relations and commercial activity, the CBSL analyst said. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait were the major labour receiving countries in 2015, capturing more than 84% of the Sri Lankan labour market.
In 2014, Qatar surpassed Saudi Arabia as the country receiving the highest number of Sri Lankan workers. The next year, Saudi Arabia regained its slot as the most popular employer but Qatar still ranked second accounting for 25 percent of Sri Lankan worker departures. Migrants to Qatar in 2015 typically hailed from Batticaloa, Ampara, Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala and Gampaha districts.
“Certainly, this could be one channel through which we get affected but it will take time to come to that,” the analyst explained. “The belief is this problem will be resolved before long.”
Kasun Gaya Ratnayake, an employee of an auditing firm in Doha since 2006, said there was “no fear or insecurity” among expatriates in the country. “The stock market is a bit down but civilian life goes on as usual.” He believed that UAE companies that have invested heavily in Qatar will be the worst affected in the ongoing diplomatic spat.
The Qatari leadership has assured all residents–citizens and expatriates, alike–that the country has sufficient resources, including food. Dairy products were affected but are now being imported from Turkey, which stands with Qatar, Mr Ratnayake said.