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

May 13, 2018

The Group Securities presents figures of the Qatari economy as reflected in the data available by the end of May 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 May compared to the previous two months – except for some data relating to April only.

1-      By the end of May, local population increased by about 25,000 people to a total of 2.732 million, compared to 2.707 million at the end of April. On an annual basis, the populace increased by 1.2%, compared to 2.700 million by the end of May 2017.

2-      QSE’s General Index declined by 231.5 points to settle at 8880.5 points by the end of May. Although the total value of traded shares increased by 4.6% to QR10.7 billion, the total capitalization decreased by QR17.6 billion to QR491.8 billion by the end of May. The P/E ratio declined to a multiple of 12.62.

3-      U.S. Dollar exchange rate increased - along with the Qatari Riyal - against the Euro to the level of US $1.17 per Euro by the end of May, while it stood still against the Yen at ¥109.06 per U.S. dollar.

4-      The price of Qatar's onshore oil increased by 8.5% to hit US $77.05 a barrel in May, an increase of about US $6.97 per barrel compared to April. In the middle of May, the price per barrel increased by US $32.05 over the 2018 budget price of US $45 per barrel.

5-      Inflation data for May has not yet been released. April data, on the other hand, showed inflation decreasing to 0.1%, from 0.4% recorded in the month of March. Changes in subgroups were as follows: Housing and fuel decreased by 4.6%, entertainment and leisure dropped by 2.4%, and telecommunications by 1%. In contrast, transport increased by 5.4%, food and beverages by 2.1%, and health by 3.4%.

6-      Trade Balance data for May has not yet been released. April’s data however showed a trade surplus of QR14.7 billion, an increase of QR4.9 billion, or 49.3% compared to the same month from 2017, and an increase of QR1.4 billion, or 10.7% for the previous month of March.

7-      Banks’ consolidated balance sheet for May has not yet been released, but that of April showed an decrease of QR41.5 billion in the total assets to QR1353.3 billion; the drop of the total government and public sector credit, including bonds by QR46.3 billion, settling at QR456.7 billion. The private sector credit increased by about QR3.8 billion to the level of QR484 billion.