A Qatari tourism official on Sunday said the country would not grant visas to those it considers "enemies", referring to Egyptian nationals, in a remark from which the Qatari government later backed away.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in 2017, because of its support for terrorism.
While citizens from the three Arabian Gulf states were recalled to their home countries because of the rift, Egyptians, who make up the largest Arab minority in Qatar, have remained and comprise a sizeable portion of the country's workforce.
Speaking at an event to promote a summer campaign, the tourism council's Akbar Al Baker said Qatar would not let Egyptians enter the country to take part in promotions aimed at boosting it as a destination.
"The visa will not be open for our enemies – it will be open for our friends," Mr Al Baker said. "Are visas open for us to go there? No. So why should we open it for them? Everything is reciprocal."
The comments were the first by a Qatari official since the almost two-year rift began.
Qatar's government communications office later said that Mr Al Baker's comments did not reflect the state's official policy for issuing visas and that it welcomed "all people of the world".
"Qatar's position has always been clear that people should not be involved in disputes that arise between nations," the office said.
But many Egyptians say that the visa process has been effectively closed to them since 2017, with narrow exceptions made for the immediate family members of residents and for specifically approved events.
Qatar has a population of about 2.7 million but just over 300,000 are nationals. It does not publish statistics breaking down population by nationality.
A 2017 report by a private consultancy estimated the Egyptian population at 200,000.
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
