Against a backdrop of sluggish global economic growth and ongoing tensions in the region, Qatar’s banking sector is proving to be strong and...
Qatar Financial Services
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Qatar has demonstrated considerable resilience in recent years, successfully developing new homegrown industries while at the same time strengthening its global ties. Although Covid-19 has introduced significant economic uncertainties in 2020, a rapid response from Qatar's authorities to curb the effects of the virus should stand the nation's economy in good stead over the medium and long term.
Despite a relatively small population of around 2.7m, Qatar accounts for around 5% of insurance premiums in MENA. Nevertheless, relative to the size of its economy, insurance activity remains at a modest level. Annual premiums of around $3bn account for 1.5% of GDP, compared to a global average of more than 6%. The insurance penetration rate, meanwhile, stands at less than 2%, significantly...
Chapter | Islamic Financial Services from The Report: Qatar 2019
Qatar is home to some of the region’s most prominent sharia-compliant institutions. Despite operating in a crowded and competitive arena, over recent decades the country has claimed a significant share of the banking, insurance and investment segments. More recently, Qatar faced the challenges of a sustained dip in oil prices and a regional economic blockade. However, due to a prudent...
Chapter | Capital Markets from The Report: Qatar 2019
The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) has faced considerable challenges in recent years, including a dip in oil prices and the effects of an economic blockade. However, after an initial decline in late 2017, the main index’s performance during 2018 established it as one of the fastest growing in MENA. The QSE has also succeeded in attracting an increasing number of foreign investors – an important...
Over the course of 2018 Qatar’s banking industry demonstrated its resilience in the face of an economic blockade placed upon the country by a number of governments. Credit ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch both upgraded Qatar’s sovereign credit ratings outlook to stable in the summer of 2018, recognising the improving macroeconomic scenario and the largely successful resolution of the...