DEAD SEA: Energy-rich Qatar urged European governments to resolve their sovereign debt woes on Saturday and voiced caution on whether to help euro zone countries trying to enlarge their bailout facility for troubled banks.
European Union finance ministers were trying to break a deadlock over shoring up European banks on Saturday after euro zone states called for steeper losses for Greek bond holders.
"If there is nothing positive then we will find a very difficult situation, not in Europe but in the world, that would take a decade to fix," Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, said at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has bought into Greece's crisis-hit banking sector and a mining business in recent months and is thought to be eyeing further investments in beaten-down European assets.
Official data are not available but Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is estimated to have assets worth around $70 billion.
Al-Thani, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, said a lot of issues needed to be clarified for the enlarged rescue fund being discussed this weekend by Paris and Berlin.
"They need to be more clear in regulations with us on how they would deal with this fund," he said. "Maybe later they will say, 'OK, we need to regulate this.'
I don't mind regulation but what we are worried (about) is that there will be new laws that can put obstacles for our sovereign fund."
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