Riyadh – Mubasher: Some banks in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are holding off on doing business with Qatari banks following the diplomatic rift in the region, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The transactions involved include letters of credit, they said, but declined to name the banks, and added that these banks were postponing deals with their Qatari counterparts until they receive guidance from their respective central banks on how to negotiate and handle their business with Qatar.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and later in the day Yemen and Libya announced cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. The countries also cut air, sea, and land transport links with Qatar.

Bahrain’s and the UAE’s central banks have asked banks operating in them to “detail their exposure to Qatari banks”, the sources told Reuters, noting that the central banks had set Thursday as a deadline for the information.

Following the rift in relations, the Qatari bourse closed Monday at a record low, falling over 700 points, and opened in the red early Tuesday. During the bourse’s mid-session, the general index recovered slightly, adding around 13 points and reaching 9,215.96 points.