Qatar: rapid credit growth starting to ring alarm bells

Qatar has been one of the best performing economies in the MENA region over the past decade and one of the key drivers of this has been the rapid growth of bank lending. However, we are concerned that the credit boom looks increasingly unsustainable and could pose a threat to the country’s future financial stability. An outright banking crisis seems unlikely, but at the very least a period of deleveraging will be needed over the coming years which will weigh on economic growth.