Is Neymar Jr’s transfer to PSG a win for Qatar?

The foreign press is calling Neymar Jr’s record EUR 222 mn transfer to ParisSaint-Germain a PR coup for embattled Qatar. The transfer of a player of Neymar’s stature from Barcelona — at such a record price — to the Qatari royal family-owned French club signals that business is usual, the Associated Press writes.

Meanwhile, GCC and some Egyptian banks are ratcheting up the pressure on Qatar and are refusing to extend deposits in Qatari banks, Bloomberg reports. Lenders are also struggling to repatriate funds because their counterparts in Qatar aren’t swapping QAR into USD. Banks can either roll over their QAR deposits or convert them into USD in the global market, where they get less favourable exchange rates than Qatar’s pegged official rate.