Capital injection helped absorb market shock: Commercial Bank

The liquidity in Qatar’s banking and financial market has improved substantially, and the industry has consumed most of the shock created by the local, regional and international factors, including US Fed, noted a senior official of leading bank yesterday.

“The various initiatives taken on the part of the government, including the Ministry of Finance, and Qatar Central Bank, have significantly improved the liquidity situation in the market, especially the capital injection of $15bn was very important as a lot of that was filtered to the local banking sector,” Omar Hussain Alfardan, Managing Director of Commercial Bank told The Peninsula on the sidelines of Euromoney Qatar Conference yesterday.

Alfardan added: “Qatari economy has shown its resilience and have passed through the difficult time of the blockade. The market is going to grow. In 2018, we have bounced back, now we expect Qatar going to have a surplus in the next year’s budget, which is like a cherry in the ice for all of us. And we are expecting substantial growth in the coming years.”

Commenting on higher borrowing costs due to rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, he said that it is part of the international market, and the important thing is that the Qatar Central Bank did not increase rates in line with the Fed.

“As we hear that Fed is likely to have a kind of ceiling on rate hikes for six to nine months after the last expected hike in December, I think most of the impact of that is consumed. We have weathered most of our bad debts, and the bank now has a very clean book,” said the Managing Director of the Bank.

Commercial Bank is the Lead Sponsor of the Euromoney Qatar Conference 2018, which kicked off yesterday at the St Regis Hotel in Doha.

The Conference is a major industry event in Qatar, bringing together leaders from around the world to discuss pressing global financial issues, especially relating to the State of Qatar and its economy.

The focus of this year’s conference is Qatar’s post-blockade strategy and its development as a sustainable economy.

The conference, which is held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, features a host of prominent national and international speakers.

High profile speakers include the Minister of Finance H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank; and Philippe Legrain, Visiting Fellow, at London School of Economics.

Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham gave a keynote interview during he opening session. Abraham discussed Qatar’s economic prospects in 2019, international investor confidence in Qatar and Commercial Bank, and how Commercial Bank is bringing technological innovation and a competitive edge to Qatar’s banking sector.