Qatar Financial Services

Tightening liquidity conditions and a squeeze on profit growth proved to be the hallmarks for Qatar’s banking sector in 2016, as financial institutions across the Gulf were forced to respond to the effects of weak oil prices on the local economy. Despite tougher operating conditions, however, the sector remains resilient, with strong...

Qatar was quick to embrace the financial technology (fintech) revolution, having long recognised that digital technologies can raise both competitiveness and security. The push to digitise has been given an added boost by the blockade, as it has driven all sectors of the economy to invest in safer and more advanced fintech systems. Banks have...

Fueled in large part by government investment in infrastructure and other large-scale construction projects, over the past decade Qatar has become the fastest-growing insurance market in the GCC region, according to recent reports published by ratings firm Moody’s and Dubai-based investment bank Alpen Capital. In 2014 alone Qatari underwriters...

In recent years Qatar’s insurance sector has expanded swiftly, on the back of government spending, economic development and steadily increasing awareness of the benefits of coverage among the nation’s rapidly growing population.

In recent years Qatar’s Islamic financial services (IFS) sector has expanded rapidly, on the back of government support and growing interest among domestic corporates and individuals alike. While tightening liquidity has the potential to result in slightly curtailed growth across the country’s banking sector as a whole in 2016-17, sharia-...

The maturation of Qatar’s Islamic financial services (IFS) industry over the past decade and a half has led the country’s sharia-compliant institutions to take a two-tiered approach to growing their business. First, the nation’s Islamic financial institutions have focused on serving domestic demand. Second, as in the conventional segment, many...