Qatar has financial muscle for World Cup

H.E. Abdulla Bin Saoud al-Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank.

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H.E. Abdulla Bin Saoud al-Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank, has delivered a vote of confidence in Qatar’s ability to finance more than $100bn worth of projects to be completed to realise its 2030 National Vision.

At the end of 2011, total assets of the country’s commercial banks grew by 22.3% to $190.6bn in 2011 over 2010, while customer deposits increased by more than 18.5% to $100bn. Meanwhile, credit facilities to customers rose by 28.2% to $103.5bn.

Qatar’s financial performance was all the more impressive given fears of contagion from the euro zone debt crisis and slow growth in the US and other developed markets, said Al-Thani.

“Economies of many of the developed nations stagnated, suffering from a series of shocks due to the situation in the euro zone and reduced credit ratings for a number of major countries,” commented Al-Thani.

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The strength of Qatar’s banking sector underscores the Gulf state’s ability to finance major planned projects, given its financial sector performance and its projected GDP growth of 6% in 2012.

H.E. Abdulla Bin Saoud al-Thani was speaking on the second day of the Qatar Projects 2012 conference, which began on Sunday with a dedicated Sports Business Forum focusing on strategies and opportunities for developing the Gulf region’s fast-growing sports business sector.