Company Insights Qatar Central Bank Banking & Finance Qatar Central Bank Overview Originally known as the Qatar Monetary Agency, the Qatar Central Bank’s main aims are to preserve the value of money and maintain monetary stability, as well as regulate, control, and supervise financial services and markets in Qatar. The Qatar Central Bank oversees critical sectors, including currency issuance, banking regulation and financial stability. The Qatar Central Bank Investment Funds Law allows for the creation and regulation of investment funds for financial securities, real estate, and development projects. Qatar Central Bank News Real Estate Qatar’s real-estate buyers wait on lower interest rates Consumer expectations that interest rates will continue decreasing in the coming months appear to have dented Qatar’s residential real-estate market growth in the third quarter of this year. Mortgage transactions fell 10 percent in Qatar from July to September over the previous three months, and 8.5 percent over the same period last year, according to […] November 28, 2024 Banking & Finance QNB proposes first interim dividend in 60 years Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, has proposed to distribute the first-ever interim dividend in six decades after strong retained earnings and sufficient regulatory reserves. The board plans to pay a 33 percent interim dividend, or QR0.33 per share, payable to shareholders on record at the close of trading on July […] July 9, 2024 Tourism Qatar visitors increase by half in February Qatar reported a 53 percent increase in international visitors in February, according to official figures from the country’s tourism authority. It follows a 106 percent rise in international arrivals in January as Qatar builds towards its ambitious target to welcome six million visitors in 2030. Last year Qatar’s visitor numbers passed four million. In February […] April 2, 2024 Banking & Finance Qatar National Bank’s profit rises 8% to $4.14bn in 2023 Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, said 2023 net profit rose eight percent to QR15.5 billion ($4.14 billion), driven by loan growth and higher operating income. Operating income jumped 11 percent year on year to QR39.1 billion, the bank said in a statement. Total assets stood at QR1.23 trillion by the […] January 12, 2024 Finance UAE and Qatar keep rates steady in line with US Fed The central banks of the UAE and Qatar have followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The Central Bank of the UAE maintained its base rate on overnight deposit facility at 5.4 percent, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The central bank also decided to maintain the interest rate on […] December 14, 2023 Analysis Finance Qatar makes belated entry into crypto tokens market Qatar’s financial regulators have proposed a new digital assets framework which seeks to regulate investment tokens. In contrast to its Gulf neighbours like the UAE and Bahrain, which have opened their doors to global cryptocurrency exchanges, Qatar has maintained a ban on trading. But legal insiders say Qatar’s delayed entry into the virtual assets arena […] October 12, 2023 Finance Qatar National Bank profit up 8% on high loan growth Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf’s biggest bank by assets, reported an 8 percent increase in third-quarter 2023 net profit to QR4.31 billion ($1.18 billion) from QR3.99 billion a year earlier, spurred by higher loan growth. Net profit reached QR11.9 billion, up eight percent year on year in the first nine months of 2023, as […] October 11, 2023 Banking & Finance Qatari Islamic banks set for rebound on high demand Islamic banking made up 25 percent of total banking sector assets in Qatar in the first quarter of 2023, slipping from 27 percent in the same period a year earlier. This makes the Gulf state the fifth-largest Islamic banking market globally, Fitch Ratings said. The ratings agency expects the market share to increase overall in […] June 28, 2023 Banking & Finance Gulf central banks mirror US Fed by halting rate hike The Central Bank of the UAE and Qatar Central Bank have decided to maintain interest rates after the US Federal Reserve board announced it will keep the key borrowing rates unchanged. The UAE’s central bank will hold the base rate applicable to the overnight deposit facility steady at 5.15 percent as of Thursday 15 June, the […] June 15, 2023 Economy Oil and gas account for 92% of Qatar’s Q1 budget surplus Qatar recorded a budget surplus of QAR19.7 billion ($5.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, driven primarily by revenue from oil and gas, the finance ministry said. Total revenue for Q1 2023 hit QAR68.6 billion, of which QAR63.4 billion – 92 percent – was from oil and gas, the state-run Qatar News Agency said, […] June 6, 2023 Posts navigation 1 2 Next
Real Estate Qatar’s real-estate buyers wait on lower interest rates Consumer expectations that interest rates will continue decreasing in the coming months appear to have dented Qatar’s residential real-estate market growth in the third quarter of this year. Mortgage transactions fell 10 percent in Qatar from July to September over the previous three months, and 8.5 percent over the same period last year, according to […] November 28, 2024
Banking & Finance QNB proposes first interim dividend in 60 years Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, has proposed to distribute the first-ever interim dividend in six decades after strong retained earnings and sufficient regulatory reserves. The board plans to pay a 33 percent interim dividend, or QR0.33 per share, payable to shareholders on record at the close of trading on July […] July 9, 2024
Tourism Qatar visitors increase by half in February Qatar reported a 53 percent increase in international visitors in February, according to official figures from the country’s tourism authority. It follows a 106 percent rise in international arrivals in January as Qatar builds towards its ambitious target to welcome six million visitors in 2030. Last year Qatar’s visitor numbers passed four million. In February […] April 2, 2024
Banking & Finance Qatar National Bank’s profit rises 8% to $4.14bn in 2023 Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, said 2023 net profit rose eight percent to QR15.5 billion ($4.14 billion), driven by loan growth and higher operating income. Operating income jumped 11 percent year on year to QR39.1 billion, the bank said in a statement. Total assets stood at QR1.23 trillion by the […] January 12, 2024
Finance UAE and Qatar keep rates steady in line with US Fed The central banks of the UAE and Qatar have followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The Central Bank of the UAE maintained its base rate on overnight deposit facility at 5.4 percent, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The central bank also decided to maintain the interest rate on […] December 14, 2023
Analysis Finance Qatar makes belated entry into crypto tokens market Qatar’s financial regulators have proposed a new digital assets framework which seeks to regulate investment tokens. In contrast to its Gulf neighbours like the UAE and Bahrain, which have opened their doors to global cryptocurrency exchanges, Qatar has maintained a ban on trading. But legal insiders say Qatar’s delayed entry into the virtual assets arena […] October 12, 2023
Finance Qatar National Bank profit up 8% on high loan growth Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf’s biggest bank by assets, reported an 8 percent increase in third-quarter 2023 net profit to QR4.31 billion ($1.18 billion) from QR3.99 billion a year earlier, spurred by higher loan growth. Net profit reached QR11.9 billion, up eight percent year on year in the first nine months of 2023, as […] October 11, 2023
Banking & Finance Qatari Islamic banks set for rebound on high demand Islamic banking made up 25 percent of total banking sector assets in Qatar in the first quarter of 2023, slipping from 27 percent in the same period a year earlier. This makes the Gulf state the fifth-largest Islamic banking market globally, Fitch Ratings said. The ratings agency expects the market share to increase overall in […] June 28, 2023
Banking & Finance Gulf central banks mirror US Fed by halting rate hike The Central Bank of the UAE and Qatar Central Bank have decided to maintain interest rates after the US Federal Reserve board announced it will keep the key borrowing rates unchanged. The UAE’s central bank will hold the base rate applicable to the overnight deposit facility steady at 5.15 percent as of Thursday 15 June, the […] June 15, 2023
Economy Oil and gas account for 92% of Qatar’s Q1 budget surplus Qatar recorded a budget surplus of QAR19.7 billion ($5.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, driven primarily by revenue from oil and gas, the finance ministry said. Total revenue for Q1 2023 hit QAR68.6 billion, of which QAR63.4 billion – 92 percent – was from oil and gas, the state-run Qatar News Agency said, […] June 6, 2023