Thaindian News

Dubai, Oct 9 (IANS) Qatar’s powerful economic growth in the last five years has helped that Gulf nation withstand the current financial turmoil engulfing the world, according to a senior government official.In statement to the state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA), Qatar’s Economy and Finance Undersecretary Khalaf Ahmed Shabib Al-Mannai said the powerful economic growth achieved in the country over the past five years had a direct effect on the protection of the financial and investment institutions.

“That growth saved the country from the effect of the world financial crisis despite its magnitude and wide range,” Al-Mannai said.

Regarding the high inflation the country has been witnessing, he said the situation was likely to improve.

“I would like to assure people that the inflation rates the Qatari economy has witnessed since the turn of the century would not last after the financial and monetary authorities took the required measures to absorb the excess liquidity in the banking sector,” he said.

Al-Mannai’s statement came even as the Doha market fell across the week along with other Gulf bourses in the face of the global credit crunch.

On Wednesday, all shares fell at the Doha Securities Market, while the index dropped below the 8,000-point benchmark to close at 7,434.54 points, a year-to-date low.

Earlier, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) deputy governor Sheikh Fahd Bin Faisal Al-Thani had said banks in Qatar remained stable in the face of the global financial crisis with the apex bank ready to provide liquidity to banks if needed.

He said instructions issued to banks by the central bank have had significant effect on enhancing the financial stability of the Qatari banking apparatus.

According to Al-Thani, banks officials in that Gulf nation have assured QCB about the strength of their banks’ stability, and that they had no assets with any of the banks or companies that were declared bankrupt in the US and Europe.

Though the central banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain have announced interest rate cuts since Wednesday to address the current mayhem in the Gulf bourses, QCB is yet to follow suit.