Qatari Government Treasury Bills Value Around QR14 Billion 

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) The Qatari Government treasury bills' value reached around QR 14 Billion in March, HE Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, who is also Chairman of Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, said Monday.

The governor said that the bank discussed with the government the issuing of new bills with different maturity periods, in order to develop the market of government treasury bills.

Speaking at the opening of the Bloomberg Financial Summit, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani further said that the issuing of government treasury bills, which started in 2008, was part of the state's policy of maintaining financial and monetary stability.

The government treasury bills were listed on the Qatari bourse for trade in December to enable the participants to trade the bills, the Governor said adding that the measure facilitated the management of liquidity.

HE the Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) highly praised Qatar's due concern to update and develop the financial markets through keeping up with the best standards and global requirements in areas of markets and financial securities, pointing to the tangible developments which qatar stock market has witnessed in benefiting of the globally applied latest applications and approaches as such a qatari stock market has become one of the most important stock markets in the region and has achieved several gains and introduced many new products and services such as public debt securities.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani stressed that the monetary policy of the State of Qatar aimed at maintaining exchange rate stability as the main pillar of that policy through maintaining the fixed exchange rate of the Qatari Riyal against the U.S. dollar .

He further said that the maintenance of monetary policy tools in addition to the interest rate mechanism approved by the State plus taking into account the reserve requirements, have led to the maintenance of the financial and monetary stability in Qatar.

The QCB's Governor noted that the State of Qatar has a clear strategy derived from the vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, considering that the effective and stable financial system which is capable of increasing liquidity and allocating to vital and key projects , constitutes a central and significant role in the creation of a modern and diversified economy.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani viewed that the effective financial sector should be based on legislations , institutions abd human cadres captable of undertaking their duties under the political stability which creates the sound climate capable of updating the financial sector.

The QCB's Governor went on to say that Qatar is aiming to unify the financial regulatory and supervisory authorities, in order to unify the general financial policies in the country. He added that the first step was his chairing of the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani announced that there will be following steps in the future in the direction of unifying the general financial policies in the country.

He emphasized Qatar's commitment to development and the diversification of its economy as part of its developmental plan. He also stressed that Qatar understands the importance of developing and supporting its assets sector. He said that the Bloomberg Financial Summit will play an important role in advancing the assets sector in the country.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani said that the global economy was undergoing a crucial period in light of the global economic crisis that took place late in 2008, as well as the other crises that followed from then on. The Bloomberg Financial Summit he pointed to the Euro debt as one of the latest crises emanating from the global economic crisis.

The QCB's governor went on to say in his address before the Bloomberg Financial Summit that such crises however had minimal effect on the Qatari economy.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani said that the State of Qatar enjoys fast economic growth in all fields, in addition to the political stability. The Governor noted that the State of Qatar has the fastest growing economy in the world as it has the third largest Natural Gas reserves in the world. Qatar is also looking to increase its international investment particularly in South-East Asia and Africa, the Governor added.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani said that the State's policy of investing in emerging economies has enhanced the stature of Qatar and the GCC as a link between developed countries and the Asian and African markets.

He also pointed to Qatar's plans to diversify its economy and limit the reliance on energy as the main source of income, noting that the latter was the goal of Qatar National Vision 2030. The vision relies on four pillars; Human Development, Social Development, Economic Development and Environmental Development. The governor said that it will be those four pillars that will establish a diversified economy. He said another factor that will create a diversified economy will be providing a competitive role to the private sector.

He said that the vision also aims to develop the financial services sector and make it more flexible and more proactive.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani established an authority for financial stability to make proactive decisions to avoid potential dangers, something that made the banking sector stronger and more flexible.

Another step that was made to improve the level of financial services in Qatar was establishing the Qatar Credit Bureau relying on customer data and risk-based methodologies to provide the Bank and the banking sector with analytical data to support the implementation of advanced techniques in risk management, something that would help support the sustainable growth of credit.

The Governor of QCB said that the establishment of the Qatar Credit Bureau was accompanied by the issuing of a number of laws and resolutions that aimed to advance financial stability in the country, which would help attract investments.