Driven by a growth in credit facilities, State-owned Qatar Development Bank’s (QDB) total assets exceeded QR11bn last year compared to QR10.2bn in 2017.
With renewed thrust on diversification of the economy and growth of SMEs, the balance sheet of QDB has been recording “rapid expansion” in the past few years; Qatar Central Bank’s 10th Financial Stability Review has shown. 
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) is a developmental financial institution and not a profit-oriented commercial entity. The primary aim of the QDB is to contribute to the diversification of the Qatari economy through facilitation of development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 
QDB aims to make Qatari SMEs globally competitive through financing, developing skills and capabilities, promoting exports, and providing opportunities domestically and globally. 
Reflecting the recovery in the growth of the economy and the greater thrust on development of SMEs, growth in loans provided by QDB recovered from 13.5% in 2017 to 16.9% in 2018, FSR said.
The bank also facilitates real estate development and provides housing loans to citizens.
“Capitalisation of QDB remained strong. The capital and reserves of QDB continued to increase during 2018, albeit at a slower rate,” QCB said.
Relatively faster growth in assets led to marginal moderation of the ratio of capital to assets but it remained high at 87%. 
As indicated in the previous FSRs, the capital of QDB is of high quality and has been improving over the years.
The share of paid up capital in the total capital and reserves maintained its upward trend and increased further from 93% 2017 to 98% at end-2018. 
“Thus, QDB did not have to depend on banks for funding their activities and its liabilities to the banks was nil as in the previous two years. 
“Moreover, very high level of capital in QDB underscores the potential for further expansion and resilience of QDB.
Failure rates among start-ups are relatively higher than those among bigger companies. However, QDB has been prudent as well as supportive to maintain delinquency at low levels,” QCB noted.
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