Qatar’s economic fundamentals highlight the fact that it is a country primed for growth in the years ahead, says Martin Tricaud, HSBC Group General Manager, Deputy Chairman and CEO (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey -MENAT) region.
Qatar, Tricaud said, has “long-established” revenue streams, which have been reinforced by
the decision to boost Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production capacity by 43% to meet rising global demand for cleaner energy.
The monetary policy response to Covid-19 meanwhile has provided broad support to both the private and public sectors. At the same time, fiscal pressure is easing as peak outlays for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, which promises to be a “great global moment” for Qatar, have passed.
He noted the Covid-19 pandemic has been a “shock” for the global economy and Qatar is not “immune”, although “we do see the country as being in a position of relative strength.”
HSBC economists forecast that the global economy will shrink by 4.1% in 2020 and that Qatar’s GDP will contract by around 4.0% year on year.
Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data is already indicating that the recovery is underway in Qatar, recording consecutive months of expansion in July and August.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf Times, Tricaud said, “Global investors clearly share our confidence, judging by the demand for two recent capital markets transactions that HSBC helped arrange. Masraf Al Rayan attracted orders for four times the amount of bonds on offer, while QNB received orders of $1.8bn from global and dedicated ESG investors for the nation’s inaugural green bond, which raised $600mn. Both speak volumes about the confidence of investors in Qatar.
“We have made significant investments in our digital offerings to meet the needs of our customers and the recent opening of the unique digitally focused branch in Qatar’s Msheireb district underlines our long-term vision of a modern economy that is growing. We also see tremendous potential in the next generation of Qatari bankers and have been focusing on the development of our Qatari employees as the leaders of the future in our organisation.”
On how HSBC has been helping customers deal with Covid-19, Tricaud, a veteran banker with wealth of experience in key global markets said, “Keeping people connected has been our central pillar - whether keeping customers connected to their finances, our communities connected to support initiatives, or our colleagues connected to the systems that have enabled us to provide seamless service despite curfews, lockdowns and social distancing.”
That, he said, has meant “far more than a robotic roll-out of long-established and well-rehearsed business continuity plans that every bank has in place for emergencies.”
He said, “It meant having thousands of one-to-one conversations with customers in retail banking, in commercial banking, in investment banking, in private banking, and engaging with regulators in every market in which we operate in the Middle East to help set the terms for how banks would help those in need – and then figuring out what more we could do in addition to those schemes.
“We certainly did some things differently, such as accelerating customer access to our digital platforms to ensure uninterrupted banking services, and shaping packages of support measures in response to feedback from various customer groups.
“But we also reinforced our efforts to ensure commitments we had made to communities were met, such as sticking with our entrepreneurship support programme that helps young people turn their dreams into real businesses, as it is new ideas that will help us all to build back better from Covid-19.”
| Qatar, Martin Tricaud said, has 'long-established' revenue streams, which have been reinforced by the decision to boost LNG production capacity by 43% to meet rising global demand for cleaner energy; the monetary policy response to Covid-19 has provided broad support to both the private and public sectors |
The monetary policy response to Covid-19 meanwhile has provided broad support to both the private and public sectors. At the same time, fiscal pressure is easing as peak outlays for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, which promises to be a “great global moment” for Qatar, have passed.
He noted the Covid-19 pandemic has been a “shock” for the global economy and Qatar is not “immune”, although “we do see the country as being in a position of relative strength.”
HSBC economists forecast that the global economy will shrink by 4.1% in 2020 and that Qatar’s GDP will contract by around 4.0% year on year.
Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data is already indicating that the recovery is underway in Qatar, recording consecutive months of expansion in July and August.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf Times, Tricaud said, “Global investors clearly share our confidence, judging by the demand for two recent capital markets transactions that HSBC helped arrange. Masraf Al Rayan attracted orders for four times the amount of bonds on offer, while QNB received orders of $1.8bn from global and dedicated ESG investors for the nation’s inaugural green bond, which raised $600mn. Both speak volumes about the confidence of investors in Qatar.
“We have made significant investments in our digital offerings to meet the needs of our customers and the recent opening of the unique digitally focused branch in Qatar’s Msheireb district underlines our long-term vision of a modern economy that is growing. We also see tremendous potential in the next generation of Qatari bankers and have been focusing on the development of our Qatari employees as the leaders of the future in our organisation.”
On how HSBC has been helping customers deal with Covid-19, Tricaud, a veteran banker with wealth of experience in key global markets said, “Keeping people connected has been our central pillar - whether keeping customers connected to their finances, our communities connected to support initiatives, or our colleagues connected to the systems that have enabled us to provide seamless service despite curfews, lockdowns and social distancing.”
That, he said, has meant “far more than a robotic roll-out of long-established and well-rehearsed business continuity plans that every bank has in place for emergencies.”
He said, “It meant having thousands of one-to-one conversations with customers in retail banking, in commercial banking, in investment banking, in private banking, and engaging with regulators in every market in which we operate in the Middle East to help set the terms for how banks would help those in need – and then figuring out what more we could do in addition to those schemes.
“We certainly did some things differently, such as accelerating customer access to our digital platforms to ensure uninterrupted banking services, and shaping packages of support measures in response to feedback from various customer groups.
“But we also reinforced our efforts to ensure commitments we had made to communities were met, such as sticking with our entrepreneurship support programme that helps young people turn their dreams into real businesses, as it is new ideas that will help us all to build back better from Covid-19.”