Doha – Mubasher: Qatar’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS) increased by 4 basis points (bps) to 115 bps on Monday compared to Friday’s close, Reuters reported, citing data released by IHS Markit.

This level is the highest since June 2016, IHS said.

The rise comes days after several Arab and Gulf countries gave Qatar an ultimatum that it needs to comply with, and almost a month after these countries announced severing ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

The Arab states, namely: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain, gave Doha a 10-day time frame to comply with their demands.

This has prompted the cost of insuring exposure to Qatari sovereign debt to rise to highest level in a year.

The ultimatum comprised of 13 items entails shutting down Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite television network and a Turkish base in Doha, curbing relations with Iran and paying reparations, according to Reuters. 

On Saturday, the UAE’s foreign affairs minister Anwar Gargash said that if Qatar did not comply with the ultimatum then the alternative would not be an escalation but a “parting of ways.”

He added that the countries would part ways “because it is very difficult for us to maintain a collective grouping," according to Reuters.