Qatar National Bank

Economic CommentaryOne of the most important problems facing the global economy today is the decline in productivity growth. Productivity is the main determinant of long-term living standards and its...

Economic CommentaryQatar’s Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) released GDP data for the second quarter of 2016 last week. In real terms, the economy picked up by 2.0%...

The loan book increased by 1.1% MoM after declining by 1.7% MoM in August 2016 (gaining by 2.0% MoM in July 2016). Deposits followed suit, growing by 2.6% MoM (declining by 3.4% MoM in August 2016)....

Economic CommentaryThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) kept its expectations for global growth in 2016 unchanged at 3.1% in its recently-published World Economic Outlook. While the headline figure...

Economic CommentaryThe recent plunge of the British pound has brought back into focus thenegative impact of Brexit on the UK economy. Following a sharp deterioration in economic activity in the...

Economic CommentarySeptember brought bad news and good news for oil prices. The bad news was the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) warning that weakening oil market fundamentals could delay...

Economic CommentaryOn 21 September, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to augment its existing “Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing” policy with a new one called “Yield Curve...

Economic CommentaryNot long ago, it was difficult to imagine a future without rising global trade and deepening economic integration. Governments pushed through trade liberalisation policies, firms...

Economic CommentaryThe two most recent market turbulences were caused by concerns about the Chinese economy. While the January 2016 market volatility was triggered by fears about a potential Chinese...

Economic CommentarySeptember 21 is shaping up to be a big day for central banks. Both the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) are making monetary policy decisions on that date. The...

For much of the summer, financial markets seem to have discounted the possibility of action by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in 2016. This was mostly due to a dismal May jobs report and the Brexit vote...

Economic CommentaryEasier Monetary Policy Offers EMs Some Respite The world is awash with monetary stimulus. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the latest central bank expected to ease monetary policy...

As expected, the Bank of England (BoE) delivered a significant dose of monetary stimulus at its latest meeting on 4 August 2016. The stimulus package involved a 25 basis point (bp) cut to the policy...

Economic CommentaryOil prices have had an eventful 2016. They started the year on a downward trend falling to a low of USD28/barrel (/b) in late January on concerns about slowing global growth and...

In its recently-published update of the world economic outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast for global growth in 2016 by 0.1 percentage points (pps) to 3.1%. The...

The share prices of Italian banks collapsed following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). They are now trading more than 50% below their value at the beginning of 2016.While...