The Group Securities: Overview of Qatari Economy Statistics in February 2018

 

March 8, 2018

The Group Securities presents figures of the Qatari economy as reflected in the data available by the end of February 2018. 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 February – except for some data relating to January only.

1-     By the end of February, local population increased by about 56,000 people – as the summer vacation came to an end – to a total of 2.700 million, compared to 2.644 million at the end of January. On an annual basis, the populace increased by 1%, compared to the 2.673 million by the end of February 2017.

 

2-     QSE’s General Index declined by 551.3 points, or 6%, to settle at 8653.3 points by the end of February. The value of traded shares declined by 36.1% to QR3.9 billion, as well as the total capitalization by QR40.6 billion to QR461.2 billion by the end of February. P/E ratio dropped to a multiple of 12.16.

 

3-     U.S. Dollar exchange rate held steady against the Euro - along with the Qatari Riyal - at $1.25 per Euro by the end of February, and lost 3.3% against the Yen at ¥105.91 per U.S. dollar.

 

4-     The price of Qatar's onshore oil decreased by 5.3 % to hit $65.5 a barrel in February, an increase of $3.6 per barrel compared to January. Despite that, in the middle of November, the price per barrel remained higher by $20.50 than the budget price.

 

5-     Inflation data for February has not yet been released. January data, on the other hand, showed inflation increasing by 0.9%, from 0.6% in the month of December. Changes in subgroups were as follows: Housing and fuel decreased by 5.4%, telecommunications by 1.1%, entertainment and recreation by 1.8%, restaurants by 0.5%. On the other hand, transport increased by 8.8%, food and beverages by 5.8%, health by 5.3%, clothing and footwear by 3.8%, furniture and appliances by 0.2%, education by 0.9%.

 

6-     Trade Balance data for February has not yet been released. January’s data however showed a trade surplus of QR16.4 billion, an increase of QR5.6 billion, or 52.2% compared to the same month from 2017.

 

7-     Banks’ consolidated balance sheet for February has not yet been released, but that of January showed an increase of QR3.6 billion in the total assets to QR1366.7 billion; the rise of the total government and public sector credit, including bonds by QR3.8 billion, settling at QR501.9 billion. The private sector credit also increased by about QR1.9 billion to the level of QR463.4 billion.