Doha – Mubasher: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has transferred assets worth $30 billion of some of its local holdings to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Reuters reported citing sources.

Holdings transferred to the ministry include several banks, industrial, trading, and transport firms, as the transfer is considered part of the government’s efforts to achieve higher returns, the agency stated.

"The assets were transferred so that the Ministry of Finance could oversee these holdings in a more active manner," a source told Reuters.

The dividend revenues of the holdings of which stakes had been transferred are forecast to exceed QAR 3 billion ($824 million) in 2017.

"It has not been decided yet how the revenue from the company dividends will be used. They could form an additional revenue stream for the government, or the finance ministry holdings could be prepared for privatisations or strategic sales," Reuters cited a source as saying.

Earlier in 2017, stakes in 18 companies had already been transferred to the ministry even before Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE cut ties with the country.

QIA, one of the world’s largest sovereign funds, is likely to own assets worth more than $300 billion globally, and said to undergo internal restructuring since the beginning of the year, according to the agency.