Banking

After half a decade of strong growth, Qatar’s banking sector is well positioned to weather regional economic volatility in 2016. As of the end of the first half of 2015 the country was home to the third-largest banking industry in the GCC, boasting total assets of $293bn. The sector consists of 18 institutions, including six domestic conventional lenders; Qatar Development Bank, which provides services for small and medium-sized enterprises; four domestic sharia-compliant banks and seven foreign institutions. Banking assets are highly concentrated in the domestic market, with the top five local institutions accounting for more than three-quarters of total sector assets, according to data from Qatar National Bank, the largest bank in the country by a significant percentage, and one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East.

This chapter contains interviews with Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank; Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO, Doha Bank; and Fahad Al Khalifa, Group CEO, Al Khaliji.