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Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, alongside Barclays, expect the European Central Bank to raise interest rates further after Thursday's hawkish policy decision reinforced concerns that inflation could remain elevated for longer, reports Reuters. The central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points, as expected, and projected that inflation would remain above its 2% target for an extended period. Renewed hostilities between the US and Iran have pushed crude prices above $100 a barrel, worsening the inflation outlook for the euro zone and reinforcing expectations that policymakers may need to keep monetary policy restrictive for longer. While Goldman Sachs, Citi and Barclays expect the ECB to raise rates again in December, Citi anticipates an additional hike in March 2027. Traders are pricing in a 94% chance of a quarter-point rate hike in December, according to LSEG data. "The longer inflation remains high, the more pronounced the risks that it becomes endogenous," Citi economists said. Swiss investment bank UBS, through its Global Research and Global Wealth Management divisions, also expects the ECB to hike rates in December, although UBS Global Research sees the move being reversed later, with rates returning to 2.5% by the fourth quarter of 2027. Barclays said the ECB's latest rate hike, which President Christine Lagarde described as a "no-brainer", underscored policymakers' continued focus on taming inflation, which the central bank does not expect to return to its 2% target until late 2027. Goldman Sachs said a December rate hike would push interest rates into "mildly restrictive territory". The ECB has increasingly emphasised that future policy decisions will be data-dependent. Policymakers are due to meet on October 29. 

The US bank JPMorgan has expanded in Dubai as part of a broader push to grow and do more business with medium-sized companies, an executive told Reuters, as competition in the Middle East intensifies.The move, not previously reported, is a challenge to competitors such as Citigroup, and comes after JPMorgan recently devoted more resources to coverage of so-called midcaps in Austria and Poland."There's a global focus on doing more in the midcap space," Stefan Povaly, London-based co-head of corporate banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said. Midcaps give JPMorgan another revenue stream beyond its traditional focus on the biggest blue-chip firms."The Middle East is of course a priority... This is the first step for an expansion into the midcap space," Povaly said.Global financial firms have increasingly set up operations in the Middle East to tap into oil wealth and growing regional markets. Barclays recently announced an expansion into Saudi Arabia, while Goldman Sachs opened an office in Kuwait.Citigroup first opened in the UAE in 1964, and added commercial bank activities in 2007. Speaking about competition in general, Alex Stiris, head of Citi's commercial banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters that Citi sees the UAE as a location with one of the greatest opportunities for increasing market share and that his bank has an ingrained "natural advantage"."We have seen more competition come into the UAE," he said, not referring to any individual firm."Obviously the more competition, the more we have to be on our tiptoes. So it worries me to some extent," he said. "We can't rest on our laurels.""We are investing selectively," Stiris said. "Investing is not just in terms of just adding more headcount. It's also in terms of just looking at the people we have, and in some cases, just upgrading people." "There's also investing in terms of capital,” he added.Elsewhere, JPMorgan is in the early stages of evaluating a move to increase covering midcaps in Turkey."Over time, we could look to hire bankers dedicated to midcap clients in the country," Povaly said.JPMorgan has relocated Tushar Arora, a banker who has been with the US lender for more than a decade, from London to take up a Dubai role as the first in a team to focus on smaller venture capital-backed companies.The activity follows a push to Poland with the hire of Marcin Pietrucha from Santander, who has built a team based in Warsaw and other hubs.In parallel, JPMorgan is seeking more midcap business in Austria, headed by banker Philippe Bull based in Frankfurt.JPMorgan has a large presence in Germany, in part for coverage of the country's medium-sized Mittelstand firms.JPMorgan has been on an expansion course in Europe. The bank this week officially opened an office in Berlin with space for 400 staff ahead of its launch of a digital retail bank.Last week, German regulators imposed a record fine on JPMorgan for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls, reflecting the scale of its operations in the country.

His Excellency Governor of Qatar Central Bank and Chairman of Qatar Investment Authority, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani met with Chairman of Citigroup, John Dugan and Chairman of Euroclear Group, Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi on the sidelines of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) held in Washington DC in the United States of America from 13 to 18 October 2025. During the meetings, they reviewed the latest global developments in banking and finance.

HE the Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari met with Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Jane Fraser, who is visiting the country, reports QNA. The meeting discussed co-operation relations between the two sides and prospects for enhancing them in the fields of investment, finance and economy, as well as issues of common concern.