The Peninsula Emphasize Strength of Qatars Economy

Doha, October 29 (QNA) - The Peninsula newspaper emphasized, in its Thursday editorial, the strength of Qatars economy which has shown a strong track record of growth and resilience, pointing out that Qatars gross domestic product (GDP) has expanded by four-fold within a span of nearly two decades, as a result of wise leadership of the country and strategic investments of revenues generated by exploiting the natural resources. It stated that the top officials are confident about Qatars economy and its resilience, and while confidence in the global economy has fallen, Qatar-based CEOs remain optimistic about the growth prospects for the country. It pointed out that 60 percent of CEOs in Qatar expressed confidence in the growth prospects of their country, compared to 45 percent of global CEOs, according to Qatar CEO Outlook report by KPMG. Over the last 20 years the size of the Qatari economy has quadrupled from nearly QR200bn in 2002-2003 to QR800bn in 2019. Qatars GDP for the first quarter of 2020 stood at around QR167.33bn, as per the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) data, the Peninsula added. It also highlighted the International Monetary Funds recent report that said that Qatar is among the most resilient economies in the region, and its economy will grow by 2.5 percent in 2021-22. The newspaper also emphasized that Qatar succeeded in minimizing the impact of the pandemic on its banking industry; the aggregated total assets of the eight listed commercial banks grew 1.9 percent in the first half of 2020, to hit QR1.66 trillion, while the aggregated loans and advances to customers grew 2.1 percent to reach QR1.44 trillion in the first six months of 2020, according to the findings from PwC's 'H1 2020 Qatar Banking Sector Report.' The Peninsula concluded its editorial by stating that despite the lockdown and other challenges, banks in Qatar proved their resilience against the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). (QNA)