what is the qatari riyal qar 
qar is the currency code for the qatari riyal the currency of the state of qatar which is located along the coast of the arabian peninsula the qatari riyal is made up of 100 dirhams the abbreviation for the currency is qr in english riyal is also frequently referred to as rial all qatar notes and coins are issued by the qatar central bank whose objectives include monetary stability and regulatory control of the currency understanding the qatari riyal qar the qatari riyal replaced the qatar and dubai riyal in 1973 when dubai entered the united arab emirates uae at this time qatar began to issue its riyal separately the qatar and dubai riyal came into force in 1966 at which time the previous currency the indian rupee was replaced due to india s devaluation of its currency 1the riyal is pegged to the u s dollar usd at 3 64 qar per one usd or usd qar 3 64 the peg became official in 2001 when it was written into law by royal decree per the law the currency will be maintained within a band between 3 6385 and 3 6415 riyals per usd 21because qatar s economy is heavily dependent on commodities such as oil and natural gas the pegging of its currency reduces potential economic shocks because these commodity prices are denominated in u s dollars the oil and gas industry represents the majority of qatar s gross domestic product gdp 3the qatari riyal has bill denominations of one five 10 50 100 and 500 riyals coins denominations are one five 10 25 and 50 dirhams 1currency fluctuationin 2017 the value of the riyal shifted in the offshore market after some foreign countries ceased dealing with qatari banks which created a liquidity shortfall pushing the value of the riyal to 3 81 in some foreign markets 4during this time and after the official peg rate of 3 64 stayed in effect within qatar this period referred to as the diplomatic crisis resulted from several countries cutting diplomatic ties and not allowing qatar to use their airspace or sea routes as it was alleged that qatar was supporting terrorism 5in jan 2021 saudi arabia egypt the united arab emirates uae and bahrain signed a solidarity and stability agreement towards ending the diplomatic rift trade ties and land sea and air blockade against qatar 6currency exchangeif traveling to qatar the pegged exchange rate is one usd to 3 64 qar unfortunately the live exchange is not the rate a traveler will get who wants qr cash banks and currency exchange services will typically charge a 3 to 5 service charge and work this into the exchange rate they offer a client therefore instead of getting qr3 64 for each one usd the traveler will likely get 3 46 which is almost 5 less the currency exchange makes the money on the difference between the two rates assume the traveler converts 1 000 at this rate receiving qr3 460 they spend some of this on their trip but not all of it when they come home to the u s they want to convert their remaining qr1 500 back into usd the gdp of qatar in 2021 as of aug 14 2022 7the official exchange rate of the usd qar is still 3 64 to find out what each qar is worth in usd divide one by 3 64 for a rate of 0 274725 this is the qar usd rate therefore the expected money the traveler will receive is 412 09 qr1 500 x 0 274725 but recall that banks and currency exchanges typically take a service fee and include that fee in the exchange rate therefore instead of getting 0 274725 for each qar the traveler will likely get a rate closer to 0 261 which is almost five percent less so instead of receiving 412 09 they receive 391 50 qr1 500 x 0 261 