DOHA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Qatar Central Bank on Thursday decided to lower its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points following a similar decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to the QCB in a press release.
"Taking into account the evolving domestic and international macroeconomic developments, Qatar Central Bank has decided on Aug. 1, 2019 to reduce the QCB lending rate (QCBLR) by 25 bps to 4.75 percent," read the statement.
Central banks in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain preceded the QCB decision as they move in lockstep with the U.S. to protect their currencies' peg to the dollar.
The Qatari riyal has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a fixed rate since the year of 1980.
Kuwait, however, kept its discount rate unchanged at 3 percent.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to decrease the lending interest rate by quarter a point, to become 2.0-2.25 percent from 2.25-2.50 percent, for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis amidst growing fears over trade tensions, global economic slowdown and inflationary pressures.
