Some international portfolio investors are finding value in gas-rich Qatar and Dubai's recently rehabilitated stock market, even as global financial markets weaken and political risks deter buyers in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
With equity prices across the world tumbling, Qatar has been one of the few markets to post even modest gains this year, second only in the MSCI frontier stock market index to the tiny exchange of Trinidad and Tobago. The main Qatar stock index is up about half a percentage point this year, while almost all other markets have fallen.
The Gulf country, which is sitting on huge gas reserves, got a boost last year from its surprise victory in the competition to host the 2022 soccer World Cup. But Qatar's spending on infrastructure for the championship is only part of a broader state spending programme by one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
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