The Group Securities: Overview of Qatari Economy Statistics in December

January 3, 2018
The Group Securities presents figures of the Qatari economy as reflected in the data available by the end of December. Data includes population and inflation figures, Qatar Stock Exchange Indices, oil prices in relation to the approved price in the public state budget, and the banks’ consolidated balance sheet. The illustrative infographic sums up the key economic data to present a snapshot of the economic situation prevalent till the end of December – except for some data relating to November only.
1- By the end of December, local population decreased by about 41,000 people, or 1.5% to a total of 2.642 million, compared to 2.683 million at the end of November. On an annual basis, the populace increased by 1.7%, compared to the 2.598 million in the previous year.

2- QSE’s General Index climbed by 809.4 points a percentage of 10.5% to settle at 8523.4 points. While the trading value of shares kept loyal to last month’s trend, with an increase of 20.9% to QR5.2 billion, the total capitalization broke the cycle and notched a QR53.8 billion climb to QR472 billion by the end of December. P/E ratio rose to stand at a multiple of 13.02 by end of the month. It is worth mentioning that the General Index decreased by 18.33%, or 1913 points in 2017.

3- U.S. Dollar exchange rate held steady against the Euro - along with the Qatari Riyal - at $1.19 per Euro by the end of December, and kept its position against the Yen as well at ¥112.60 per U.S. dollar.

4- The price of Qatar's onshore oil climbed by 2.1% to hit $64.3 a barrel in December, an increase of $1.3 per barrel compared to November. Thus, in the middle of November, the price per barrel remained higher by $19.30 than the budget price.

5- Inflation data for December has not yet been released. November data, on the other hand, showed inflation stabilizing at 0.2%, similar to October. Changes in subgroups were as follows: Housing and fuel decreased by 5.7%, entertainment and recreation by 2%, telecommunications by 1.1%, restaurants and hotels by 0.1%, furniture by 0.2%, and clothing and footwear by 0.7%. On the other hand, transport increased by 7.4%, food and beverages by 5.5%, health by 3.6%, education by 1.1%, and restaurants by 0.1%.

6- Trade Balance data for December has not yet been released. November’s data however showed a trade surplus of QR12.8 billion, an increase of QR3.2 billion, or 32.9% compared to November 2016, and a climb of QR4.5 billion or 54.8% compared to October 2017.

7- Banks’ consolidated balance sheet for December has not yet been released, but that of November showed an increase of QR14.1 billion in the total assets to QR1332.7 billion; the rise of the total government and public sector credit, including bonds by QR9 billion, settling at QR493 billion. The private sector credit also increased by about QR2.3 billion to the level of QR461 billion.