Central Bank of Egypt denies reports it told banks to halt Qatari dealings

Egypt’s central bank has not given orders to halt transactions in Qatari riyals or dealings with Qatari banks, governor Tarek Amer said Monday.

Reports that the central bank has ordered such halt or that the Egyptian banks halted dealings with Qatari banks were ‘groundless’, Amer further told the state-run news agency MENA.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and three more Arab nations severed their ties with Qatar early Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism and opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.