With a strong macroeconomic environment underpinned by the government’s efforts to diversify the economy as envisaged in its Qatar National Vision 2030 report, the Qatari financial sector is poised to benefit from tremendous opportunities in the coming years. From the central bank’s perspective, it will be our responsibility to ensure an adequate flow of credit to the productive sectors of the economy. In the run up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, project financing requirements and other related financial intermediary services will act as a catalyst for strong growth for the sector. Needless to say, the banking sector has to fine-tune itself to rise to these challenging opportunities.
Qatar’s economic outlook remains positive for 2012 and 2013. According to the International Monetary Fund’s Regional Economic Outlook, the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected at 6% and 4.6% in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Even though hydrocarbon GDP growth is expected to slow in 2012, on account of a self-imposed moratorium on the development of new hydrocarbon projects, large infrastructure investment and increased production in the manufacturing sector will maintain real non-hydrocarbon GDP growth at a rate of 9% in 2012.