Qatar National Bank

The US economy experienced strong growth in the second and third quarters of 2015, expanding by 3.9% and 2.0% respectively. However, the strong performance was derailed in the fourth quarter, which...

Last week we examined the reasons behind the collapse in financial markets during the first week of the year (China’s devaluation creates spillover risks in some EMs). We determined that the...

Economic CommentaryFinancial markets have had their worst start to the year for some time. The selloff was broad-based across most equity, fixed income and commodity markets. In the first full trading...

Oil markets have been over-supplied since the beginning of 2014. The build-up of inventories has led to a sharp decline in oil prices from USD115 per barrel (/b) in mid-2014 to USD34 currently. But...

Oil prices had an eventful year in 2015. They began the year by recovering some of the losses incurred in the second half of 2014, rising from USD49 per barrel (/b) in mid-January to USD68/b in early...

Global food prices have not escaped the commodity rout, falling 24.3% since early 2014, according to the World Bank. Bumper harvests, weak demand and collapsing oil prices have driven food prices...

QNB Group, the largest financial institution in Qatar and the Middle East and North Africa Region, announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement with National Bank of Greece for the...

After seven years of near-zero interest rates, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has decided to raise rates by 25 basis points. The event was long-awaited and largely expected by financial markets, which...

We remain optimistic on the Qatari equity market in the long term. We believe the significant sell-offs driven by declining oil prices have been overdone and consider most of our equities under...

The European Central Bank (ECB) added another dose of monetary easing on 3 December. The latest measures include reducing the deposit rate by 10 basis points, taking it further into negative...

After five years of negotiations, an agreement was reached on 5th October on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the largest trade deal in two decades. The TPP is a regional trade agreement among 12...

Oil markets have been over-supplied since the beginning of 2014. As supply growth outpaced that of demand, markets have become imbalanced, leading to alarge build-up of inventories and a sharp fall in...

Growth in the Qatari economy accelerated in the second quarter of 2015. Real GDPgrew by 4.8% year-on-year, according tothe latest data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics...

Economic CommentaryKenya is now the third largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) after Nigeria and South Africa with nominal GDP of USD66bn expected in 2015. The economy is dependent on...

Qatar’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation remained moderate in the first seven months of 2015. According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS), consumer price index...

China surprised markets by devaluing its currency by the most in over two decades. On August 11, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) reduced the daily fix of its currency against the US dollar by...