Qatar's Business Sector Optimistic About First Quarter: Survey

Doha, January 23 (QNA) - Qatar's outlook for the first quarter of 2012 continues to be robust with its business community optimistic given the country's strong fundamentals and its expanding hydrocarbon sector which improved its Composite Index (CI) to 29 points, according to a survey. Around 45% of respondents from the non-hydrocarbon sector plan on investing in business expansion compared to 35% in the last quarter although the CI has moderated to 40 in Q1 for 2012 mainly due to the global economic uncertainty, according to the Business Optimism Index (BOI) for Qatar announced Monday by officials from Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority. Speaking to the media Monday, QFC Authority Strategic Development Asset Management and Banking Director Yousuf Al Jaida, said, "Optimism in finance, real estate and business services sector is holding up well which underlines the considerable opportunities the QFC Authority has to help promote the financial sector in Qatar and the Gulf region." The latest BOI is a very useful snapshot of how businesses in Qatar see the relatively near-term future. While concerns about banking and debt problems, particularly in mature economies have weighed on sentiment in the first quarter of 2012, businesses remain pretty confident, he added. Qatar's outlook remains strong since most of the country's hydrocarbon exports over the medium-term have already been tied up in long-term contracts. According to the survey, the composite score for Qatar's hydrocarbon sector is 29 in Q1 of 2012 compared to 20 in the last quarter of 2011. This is due to the higher BOI scores for two key parameters - the Level of Selling Prices (LSP) and the Number of Employees. The BOI for LSP increased to 23 in Q1 2012 from 10 in Q4 2011. Commenting on the results of the survey, Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East General Manager Manjeet Chhabra, "The business community in Qatar remains quite optimistic for the first quarter of 2012 although the optimism levels in the non-oil and gas sector are marginally lower than the previous quarter. "Qatar's economy proved to be resilient to the global crisis of 2008-09, and, given its strong macroeconomic fundamentals will continue to witness strong growth. The survey for the hydrocarbon sector shows businesses' expectations are stronger for Q1," Manjeet Chhabra said. The moderate CI of 40 for the non-hydrocarbon sector is five points lower compared to the value in Q4 2011. The BOI scores for five of the six parameters have dropped in Q1 2012 compared to Q4 2011 levels. the BOl for the Volume of Sales parameter has marginally dropped by three points to 53 in Q1 2012 while the BOI for New Orders is down by nine points to 50. The BOI for LSP is 14, dropping nine points from Q4 2011 reading of 23, according to the survey. (QNA)