Qatar Financial Services

Following a year of modest growth, activity on the Qatar Exchange (QE) shifted up a gear in early 2014, with its benchmark index, the QE Index, exceeding 10,000 points for the first time in more than four years.

Islamic banks in Qatar are gaining strength, with sharia-compliant lenders outperforming their conventional counterparts in many areas during 2013, despite the confines of an increasingly competitive market.

New regulations introduced by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) in mid-June will curb local banks’ investment options, potentially making sovereign bonds more appealing at the expense of some private sector options. The move is taking place as the government prepares to set its infrastructure development programme into overdrive.

The Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) February takeover of responsibility for licensing and supervising insurance companies, reinsurance companies and insurance intermediaries, part of an effort to streamline doing business in the country, should enhance regulation and level the playing field for insurance companies.

Local banks are turning to the capital markets to finance expansion as they set their sights on growth both in the domestic market and overseas.

While the insurance sector continues to expand and post solid profits, Qatar’s policy writers are looking to improve profit margins by tapping into potential for further growth, particularly in construction and infrastructure insurance.