AGGRESSIVE PLANS | Page 4

1 Friday, March 18, 2022 Sha ban 15, 1443 AHBUSINESSGULFTIMESCURRENCY PEGS : Page 2 Gulf states turn page on stimulus by following Fed hikeFed ramps up infl ation fi ght in economy tough enough to copeAGGRESSIVE PLANS | Page 4 QCB raises repo rate by 25 basis points to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) announced that it raised the repo rate (QCB repo rate) by 25 basis points to , starting from QCB said in a statement that the decision was based on the evolv-ing domestic and international macr-oeconomic developments. The repo rate, which is also known as the Repo, is the interest rate for one night, or a very short period of time for the process of buying and selling as-sets, such as government bonds from the central bank, where dealers pur-chase government bonds for a certain period and then sell them to investors for either a short period or one night, after which they purchase them the following QCB also decided to maintain the QCB deposit rate (QCBDR) at its current level of and maintain the QCB lending rate (QCBLR) at its current level by US Federal Reserve (the US central bank)

2 On Wednesday raised the federal funds interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to reach , the fi rst time it increased rates since 2018. The Fed attributed its de-cision to raise the rate to the continu-ous increase in infl ation rates, which was further fuelled by the current war in Ukraine, and amid fuel prices reaching record to economic reports, the improvement in the US employ-ment rates in the recent months also prompted the Fed s decision to raise interest in Qatar within safe range: ExpertsQNA Doha Participants in a workshop organised within the activities of the Community Financial Culture Week accompanying the 8th Doha Islamic Finance Conference, organised by Bait Al Mashura Finance Consultations, confirmed that inflation rates in Qatar are within the safe range, as estimates indicate that the average annual infla-tion rate in Qatar will record in 2022, and then decline to the level of in Omar al-Ababneh, Shariah Supervisory and Audit Off icer at Bait Al-Mashura, stressed during the workshop that inflation rates in Qatar are within the safe range, as estimates by the Oxford Eco-nomics institution indicate that the average annual inflation rate in Qatar will record this year.

3 And then drop to of next pointed out that the International Monetary Fund expects inflation rates in Qatar to reach the level of in 2022, and the Economist Intelligence suggests that inflation rate in Qatar would reach 3% during the current indicated that the fluctuation in inflation rates at lev-els between 2% and a little more than 3%, represents a safe range, which means that inflation is under control in Qatar, especially since this comes at a time when supply chains are experiencing crises as a result of geopolitical turmoil globally, noting that the Qatar Central Bank closely monitors the situation and has mon-etary and financial tools to curb inflation if the levels go out of the safe range, while the strength of the Qatari riyal plays a major role in controlling inflation, as the QCB fixes the exchange rate at riyals to the of Islamic Finance and Economics and Programme Coordinator at the College of Islamic Studies, HBKU, Dr Ahmet Faruk said that digital transformations present great opportunities for the Islamic financial industry, foremost of which is increasing access to and facilitation of Islamic financial services, while ac-celerating payment 8th Doha Islamic Finance Conference called for the establish-ment of an independent Shariah studies centre specialising in Islamic financial technology, to supplement the industry with the provisions of its innovations.

4 Best practices on spotlight at GECF SEDAS meetThe 13th Special Envoys for Data and Statistics (SEDAS) Meeting of the Gas Ex- porting Countries Forum (GECF) was held on March 15 via videoconference, with representation of GECF Member Countries as well as data experts from partner organisation his welcoming remarks, Mohamed Hamel, secretary-general of the GECF emphasised the role of SEDAS in the con-tinued stability of gas markets with timely and complete datasets. He also urged the participants to refer to the Doha Declaration of the recently-held 6th GECF Summit of Heads of States and Government as the guiding document. The exchange of information, data and experiences is at the core of the objectives of the GECF, as enshrined in its Statute. It is also a key element in any energy study, analysis, outlook and benchmarking, Hamel said.

5 This exchange is a corner-stone in our co-operation with interna-tional organisations. The 13th edition of SEDAS covered a whole gamut of data and statistics deliverables of the GECF, based on the Member Countries adopted Data Exchange Mechanism (DEM). The DEM manifests internally in the form of the annually updated GECF Global Gas Outlook 2050, short-term gas market report, and periodical statistical bulletins, and extends externally through partner-ships with the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI-Gas) and other organisa-tions. The delegates revised, discussed, and evaluated the performance and recent up-dates on the monthly and quarterly statis-tical bulletins, the Gas Statistical Reports; designed for internal release and the GECF Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB); the statis-tical flagship publication of the Forum and available for public release; as well as other valuable digital tools designed to support GECF Members and increase the visibility of the energy statistics.

6 Representing Opec, Boshra al-Seiari, head, Data Services Department, stressed the importance of orienting the data ex-change mechanism to meet the expecta-tions of both Opec and the GECF Member Countries. Opec and the GECF contribute to their respective annual outlooks of World Gas Outlook and Global Gas Outlook 2050. Thanking the participants, Dr Rixio Mo-rales, head (Data and Information Services Department) at the GECF emphasised that now more than ever the need for accurate and timely energy statistics is paramount for an evolving energy in the workshop. The decision to raise the repo rate was based on the evolving domestic and international macroeconomic developments, the QCB said. Higher oil prices boost QSE; M-cap adds QR7bnBy Santhosh V PerumalBusiness ReporterStrengthened oil prices lifted the sentiments on the Qatar Stock Exchange, whose key index yes-terday gained 118 points to inch near 13,400 levels and capitalisation ex-panded about foreign and Gulf institu-tions were increasingly bullish as the 20-stock Qatar Index shot up to 13, points, recovering from an intraday low of 13,283 Islamic index outperformed the other indices in the market, whose year-to-date gains were at than 67% of the traded con-stituents extended gains in the mar-ket, whose capitalisation saw increase to.

7 Mainly on the back of large and small cap industrials and consumer goods counters witnessed higher than aver-age demand in the bourse, where the industrials and banking sectors to-gether accounted for about 65% of the trading , domestic funds and local retail investors were increas-ingly net sellers in the bourse, which saw a total of 89,480 exchange traded funds (sponsored by Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank) valued at QR636,439 changed hands across 55 Arab institutions net buying weakened marginally in the market, which saw no trading of sovereign trade turnover and volumes were on the increase in the bourse, which saw no trading of treasury Total Return Index rose to 27, points, the All Share Index by to 4, points and the Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price) by to 2, industrials sector index zoomed , consumer goods and services ( ), real estate ( ), telecom ( ), transport ( ) and banks and fi nancial services ( ).

8 While insurance declined gainers in the main market included Investment Holding Group, Zad Holding, Qatar Electricity and Water, Industries Qatar, Mesaieed Pet-rochemical Holding, Masraf Al Rayan, Dlala, Qatar Oman Investment, Salam International Investment, Woqod, Baladna, Al Meera, Qamco, QLM and Ezdan. In the venture market, both Al Faleh Educational Holding and Mek-dam Holding saw their shares appreci-ate in , Doha Insurance, Commercial Bank, Qatari German Medical Devices, Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution and Mazaya Qa-tar were among the losers in the main foreign institutions net buying increased signifi cantly to against on March Gulf institutions net buying increased substantially to compared to QR54mn the previous day.

9 However, the domestic funds net sell-ing grew considerably to against on individuals net profi t book-ing rose drastically to compared to on March Arab individuals turned net sellers to the tune of QR20mn against net buyers of the previous foreign individuals net selling strengthened marginally to compared to on Gulf individuals net buying declined perceptibly to against on March Arab institutions net buying eased marginally to com-pared to the previous trade volume in the main mar-ket rose 28% to shares, value by 75% to and transactions by 8% to 22, transport sector s trade vol-ume more than doubled to equities and value almost tripled to on 61% increase in deals to was a 54% surge in the insur-ance sector s trade volume to stocks, 44% in value to QR8mn and 78% in transactions to banks and fi nancial services sector s trade volume soared 48% to shares and value more than doubled to on a 21% growth in deals to 12, consumer goods and services sector s trade volume shot up 48% to equities and value more than doubled to on a 58% jump in transactions to 1.

10 Market witnessed a 33% expan-sion in the telecom sector s trade vol-ume to stocks and 34% in value to but on a 33% shrinkage in deals to real estate sector s trade volume shot up 18% to shares and value by 19% to , whereas transactions shank 44% to 1, industrials sector reported a 2% gain in trade volume to eq-uities and 24% in value to but on an 8% dip in deals to 5, venture market saw seven-fold growth in trade volumes to stocks and more than fi ve-fold in value to on more than quadrupled transactions to SEDAS meeting of the Times Friday, March 18, 20222 Lebanon s Fransabank shuts all branches after judicial orderReutersBeirutLebanon s Fransabank closed all of its branches on Wednesday after a judicial order and said it would be unable to meet client demands, including paying public sector , one of Lebanon s biggest lenders, said in a statement that the judicial order had frozen all its shares, properties and assets.