It has been a tumultuous 12 months for the majority of the world’s finance ministers, with the impact of the credit crisis affecting almost every country to some extent. Here The Banker salutes those that have risen to the challenges posed by this financial turmoil.
Finance minister of the Year Global and Middle East
Youssef Hussain Kamal, Finance Minister, Qatar
A decade ago, Qatar’s finances were uncertain, but since huge gas revenues came on-stream, its wealth has ballooned, and reserves and financial surpluses have expanded significantly.
A 20-year ministerial veteran, Youssef Hussain Kamal has steered the Qatari economy through some volatile times, to become one of the most diversified economies in the Gulf, and one of the most resilient to the current financial turbulence. Today, Qatar not only has the third largest gas reserves in the world but also its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has funds estimated at $60bn. QIA is establishing a role for itself on the global investment stage, including ground-breaking memoranda of understanding with Indonesia and Turkey, designed to bring its much-needed long-term investment approach to these countries’ underdeveloped infrastructure assets.
Amid the current turmoil, Mr Kamal has not only charted a steady course through the volatile oil and gas markets, but has also established the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) as the authority able to attract high-profile international institutions. His proposal to join regulatory responsibility for the QFC with that for domestic banks will make Qatar the first Gulf state to eliminate the divide between offshore and onshore financial centres. The QFC has attracted 60 financial service businesses, and the only brake on development is the current environment.
“We had a difficult time when our concentration was on oil and gas, and prices were low,” says Mr Kamal. “But now we are generating good revenues and by 2012, the economy will be double the size of today [with] growth of 9% to 11% a year. So I think we are managing our economy well.”
According to the latest report by the Washington-based Institute for International Finance (IIF), Qatar’s current account surplus is expected almost to double in 2008 to $40.4bn, and the country appears well protected against further oil declines with its 2009 budget based around a very conservative average oil price of $38 a barrel.
With the IIF estimating foreign assets to be $112bn at end-June 2008, Qatar has significant financial as well as gas reserves to manage its investment needs and develop its sovereign fund. Mr Kamal, as minister, board member of the QIA and chairman of Qatar National Bank, which has a 40% share of the banking market, is integrally connected with all key aspects of the financial sector. With the QIA spending up to $5.3bn on bank shares to boost its share price and QNB profits up 62% for the first three quarters of 2008, Mr Kamal has helped position many aspects of his country’s financial system for the future.
