With its guaranteed long-term liquefied natural gas revenues and ever-expanding array of foreign assets, Qatar boasts a profile that has set it apart from its Middle Eastern oil-exporting peers – even if it has found it necessary to curb some of its prodigious spending growth in the midst of weaker global oil prices seen in the past year.

A snapshot of Qatar’s banks shows a sector in good health, with sound provision levels and growth in public sector credit. But with real estate prices increasing rapidly, concerns remain over the potential for a bubble emerging in the market. 

US shale production has significantly altered the landscape of the global energy market. Ahead of the Institute of International Finance's annual spring meeting in Qatar, James King looks at how OPEC is responding to this seismic shift.

Qatar Investment Fund is overcoming the traditional hurdles to investment in Qatar, allowing investors to tap the country’s stellar growth, its chairman tells James King.

Not satisfied with being the number one bank in the Middle East, Qatar National Bank is looking further afield as it seeks higher growth opportunities outside Qatar. Its acting group chief executive speaks to James King.

Growth may be buoyant but that by no means makes managing the Qatari economy an easy task. Central bank governor Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saoud Al-Thani describes the steps that he has taken to make sure that such growth is sustained in the medium and long term.

Qatar's gross domestic product growth may be envied by much of the rest of the world, but the country's finance minister is not blinkered by the country's current economic success. As he explains to The Banker, the need to diversify the hydrocarbon-reliant economy is great, which is why he has just announced a record-breaking budget to this end.

As the Qatari economy has contracted in recent years, the country's banks have developed their own niches in order to remain profitable in what has become an increasingly competitive market.

A profile of the appointments who made an impact in banking and finance in the Middle East in 2013.