Qatar boasts of its huge gas and oil revenues, and prides itself for its impressive skyscrapers – not to speak of its forthcoming signature event, World Cup 2022. But everything that Qatar brags about today has little value without support from its partners, investors, buyers, and consumers. How can there be prosperity when there is no political stability within, and its neighbors feel betrayed by its wayward ways? The media recently reported a huge run on the supermarkets over concerns of food shortages. The reports indicated that Qataris are scrambling to buy food and everyday items. Anxious friends and relatives are making frantic calls to Qatar. An expatriate who was working for a German company in Doha says that his friends there are putting up a brave front. Every time they say, "All's well. Daily life is normal." He said that the first two days of the crisis was tough on the people as shelves ran empty. But they were filled again. What remain empty are the freezers where stocks of frozen chicken, imported from Saudi Arabia, have run out. This was the case with also refrigerated milk products. It is true that Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world due to its huge reserves of gas. It enjoys the highest per capita income. But the boycott threatens to knock it off its high pedestal of affluence. Already trucks are reported to be lining up at the Qatari border. According to Qatari official data, 70 percent of Qatar's imports come from Saudi Arabia and UAE. If these borders remained closed for long, there is every likelihood of Qatar running up a severe shortage of essentials. It would have to depend entirely on its limited sea and air routes for its supplies. The Qatari Riyal has taken a hit as well. It continued to slide against the dollar Friday morning. The dollar was 630 points stronger which is higher than in December 2015 when the prices of oil and gas had fallen drastically. Qatar's five-year credit risk swap, which is used to hedge the risk of sovereign debt default, rose to 93.6 points from 90.1 Thursday evening.
