A man crosses Grand Hamad street where banks and financial institutions are located in Doha Qatar Reuters
DOHA: Qatar’s non-hydrocarbon sector grew 4.2 percent in 2017, offset by a contraction in the hydrocarbon sector. The real GDP growth slowed marginally in Q4 mainly due to temporary shutdowns for LNG maintenance, QNB noted citing official data.
Brent crude prices were stable on average in March and Qatar’s oil production rose to 621,000 b/d in December from 612000 b/d prior. The country’s property sector continued to recover – the real estate price index rose 1.8 percent in December and falling rents turned a corner, QNB monthly report said.
Qatar’s exports expanded 14 percent year-on-year in February 2018 on higher hydrocarbon prices while import growth remained steady at 0.6 percent year-on-year. Inflation slowed to 0.4 percent y/y in March; food inflation eased while housing inflation picked up.
5-star and 4-star hotel occupancy rates rose to 58 percent and 60 percent in February 2018 from 56 percent and 59 percent in January, respectively.
Exports grew 14.0 percent y/y in February as a result of higher oil prices while imports grew marginally at 0.6 percent y/y. The current account surplus widened to 6.4 percent of GDP in Q4 in line with higher oil prices while the financial account deficit narrowed.
QCB foreign exchange reserves remained broadly stable at around $38bn, equating to over 6 months of import cover. Bank assets expanded to $378.9bn growing 9.1 percent y/y in February. Credit growth was 7.4 percent in February, driven by lending to the public sector, which grew 12.6 percent y/.Bank deposit growth was 6.0 percent y/y in February. Deposits from the non-resident and private sector remained stable in February.
Broad money supply (M2) grew by 15.7 percent in February compared to 19.6 percent in January. Interbank rates continue to rise in line with increases in the US short-term rates.
