Doha: Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister HE Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, the 9th edition of the Euromoney Qatar conference kicked off today.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, the Governor of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), HE Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani, said that the Qatar Central Bank is putting in place the necessary infrastructure to enable banks to accept payments from digital wallets and in this regard, the bank is working on designing a new fintech strategy and intends to launch it in the last quarter of this year.

He further pointed out that – as part of the current payment system program update – a fully integrated payment platform will be implemented, including a central infrastructure system for an instant payments network. at the state level.

He added that the economic activity of the State of Qatar is now much stronger than it was in 2020, as it occupies a distinguished position as one of the leading countries in the world in the production and export of clean energy from liquefied natural gas.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Qatar said the country’s economy has shown strength and resilience despite the economic challenges imposed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, following guidance from the wise leadership and the economic and financial support plan that has been put in place to help the sectors affected by the measures aimed at limiting the spread of the pandemic.

He added that the Euromoney conference presents great challenges for everyone today, represented by proper planning for the future, as the past two years have witnessed events that indicate the difficulty of predicting the future, and the importance of the preparation and proactivity of central banks to face these challenges.

His Excellency pointed out that the existence of a flexible economy provides a solid foundation that helps plan for the future, as this flexibility is evident through data relating to the state budget and current account, official reserves of the state and the strength of the financial sector, in addition to economic diversification, stressing that the outlook is still good, as economic activity recovers, driven by several factors, including the recovery of domestic demand, growth credit to the private sector and preparations to host the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

He added that with rising world oil and gas prices, international institutions expect higher GDP growth in 2022 in the range of 3.5%, and on the other hand, the levels Inflation rates look relatively subdued by global rates, noting that the current geopolitical tensions in Europe have not had a significant impact on inflation levels as inflation remains subdued.

Despite the difficult challenges that the global financial sector has been facing in recent times, he added that Qatari banks still benefit from good capitalization, high liquidity and maintaining asset quality, and that the profitability of banks remained stable, while the percentage of non-performing loans is still considered one of the lowest in the region.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Qatar said that according to the positive data obtained by the economy and the banking sector in particular, during the evaluation of the last stage, it was decided to launch the phase of gradual exit from the support measures for the banking sector, as a plan has been aimed at ending the facilities granted by the Central Bank to banks by the end of this year in conjunction with the interim assessment of the situation of banks, interest rates Interest rates were also raised in line with the policy of maintaining the exchange rate, with continued emphasis on monitoring all things global developments to protect the soundness and safety of our banking sector.

HE the Governor of the Central Bank of Qatar explained that with the expectation that oil prices will remain at their current average rates, this will support the continued recovery of the country’s economic growth in the medium term, allowing us to to absorb the cycle of financial tightening that has already begun by most central banks around the world.

His Excellency said that the Central Bank of Qatar is working through the initiative to develop the regulatory environment to improve the digital society and the advanced financial environment, through which we seek to make Qatar a regional leader in the field. digital banking services.

His Excellency said that to meet the growing payment needs of residents and visitors, the number of companies providing financial technology services was increased in the experimental virtual environment before licensing them, thereby ensuring that companies are more efficient and secure.