Shuaa Capital, a leading financial services institution, has published its new research report entitled ‘Qatar is still booming’, which provides an in-depth analysis of the economy of Qatar.

The analysis also carries a special focus on the banking and petrochemical sectors.

“The Qatari economy has seen remarkable growth over the last few years with an estimated real growth rate of 18.4 per cent in 2008, one of the World’s fastest growing economies,” said Dr Mahdi Mattar, head of research and chief economist, Shuaa Capital.

“Going forward we expect growth of 10.2 per cent in 2009 and 12 per cent in 2010.  When this is compared to emerging and developing economies of 1.6 per cent and 4 per cent for 2009 and 2010 and world economy growth rates of -1.3 per cent  and 1.9 per cent for the same periods, it really shows the fundamental strength of the country.”

“It is not surprising that ‘Qatar is booming’ is often used as a common slogan. The country enjoyed one of the highest levels of GDP growth in 2008, expanding by almost 44 per cent to QR372.4 billion ($102.3 billion),” Dr Mattar pointed out.

On the equity markets, Dr Mattar commented: “This strong economic backdrop will provide the main support for the Qatari equity market despite the persistent headwinds from the global economic slowdown which were manifested by tight liquidity, local real estate correction, and cautious investors’ sentiment.

“We expect the Qatari equity market to record gains of c.20 per cent over the next 12 months thereby taking the QSI index towards the 8,000 mark and the Shuaa Capital Qatar Index towards 6,000,” he added.

Dr Mattar continued: “The Qatari market represents a persuasive investment case when compared to other emerging markets. We believe that as the Qatari story obtains more traction from its impressive economic growth figures and the Doha Securities Market (DSM) will be bound for further upside in the medium term, especially given its depressed valuation compared to its own historical levels.

“Our belief is reinforced by the DSM’s sound fundamentals and attractive relative valuation in comparison to its peers.” – TradeArabia News Service