Qatar Central Bank foreign exchange reserves jump by 12.7% to $44.8bn - The Peninsula Qatar

Qatar Central Bank foreign exchange reserves jump by 12.7% to $44.8bn - The Peninsula Qatar:

The Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) foreign exchange reserves jumped 12.7 percent to $44.8bn in May on month-on-month, equating to 7.0 months of import cover. Bank assets growth was 2.5 percent y/y in May. Credit growth was 2.7 percent as deposits from the non-resident and private sector remained stable in May.

QNB’s monthly monitor noted yesterday the country’s real GDP growth slowed in Q1 due to a further fall in hydrocarbon output. Powered by the construction sector, non-hydrocarbon real GDP growth was a solid 4.9percent y/y in Q1 2018. CPI inflation dropped to 0.1 percent y/y in June; food inflation continued to cool even as deflation in housing costs moderated.

Booming construction output, up 17.2 percent y/y, remained the key driver of activity in the non-hydrocarbon sector. Manufacturing gained 3 percent. Brent crude prices slipped to an average of $76/b in June; Qatar’s oil production fell to 578000b/d in April from 616000b/d prior.