(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Optimism among Qatar's business community remains firm for the third quarter of 2014. The composite Business Optimism Index (BOI) for Qatar's non-hydrocarbon sector stood at 39, the same as for Q3, 2013.
However, it is eight points lower than in Q2, 2014, primarily because of the expected seasonal downturn in business activity during the holy month of Ramadan and the summer.
Within the non-hydrocarbon sector, manufacturing is the most strongly optimistic for Q3, backed by demand from new projects, an overall strong economy and a rising population. At 46, the BOI is 11 points higher than in the same period of 2013.
According to the latest BOI survey, conducted by Dun and Bradstreet in collaboration with QFC Authority and Qatari Businessmen's Association (QBA), seasonal factors were the main cause for a sharp fall in the index for the finance, real estate and business services sector.
However, finance and insurance firms continue to have a stronger outlook than the real estate and business services segments. Overall, 61 percent of firms in the sector expect an increase in sales, 64 percent expect an increase in orders and 40 percent expect to invest in business expansion in Q3, 2014.
About half of all respondents - 44 percent of firms in the hydrocarbon sector and 51 percent of firms in the non-hydrocarbon sector - do not anticipate any hindrances to their daily operations in Q3, 2014.
The composite BOI for the hydrocarbon sector has been steadily declining since Q4, 2013 and now stands at one, down from eight in Q2, 2014 and 13 in the thuird quarter of 2013.
This is in line with the projected contraction in GDP from the hydrocarbon sector during 2014. According to International Monetary Fund forecasts, Qatar's real GDP from the hydrocarbon sector will contract by 1 percent during 2014.
Qatari businesses have modestly scaled back their outlook for investment in business expansion: 24 percent of hydrocarbon firms and 38 percent of non-hydrocarbon firms plan to invest in business expansion in Q3 compared with respectively 31 percent and 41 percent firms in Q2, 2014.
In general, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more optimistic about the businesses environment than large companies. Of SMEs, 53 percent said they did not anticipate any hindrances to their operations in Q3, 2014, while the corresponding number for large companies is 45 percent.
Yousef Mohammed Al Jaida, Deputy CEO of the QFC Authority, said: "It is very encouraging to see from this BOI survey that Qatar's businesses remain firmly optimistic despite the seasonal downturn."
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