Qatar's financial services sector continued to expand markedly mid-way through 2023. Growth in new business strengthened further in June 2023, leading to another rapid rise in total activity. The outlook remained positive, and firms boosted hiring.
New business increased, extending the current growth sequence to over three years. Moreover, the rate of growth in June 2023 was the fastest since August 2022 and well above the long-run trend. Total financial services activity rose for the twenty-fourth month running and at a relatively strong pace. Meanwhile, expectations for activity remained strong and financial services firms raised employment.
June 2023 data signaled the first cut in prices charged by financial services providers in seven months, which in turn contributed to the increase of business activities.
Commenting on this, Chief Executive Officer, QFC Authority Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, said that although the PMI eased to 53.8 in June 2023, the second quarter as whole recorded a stronger performance than the first three months of 2023, at 54.6. Growth rates for output and new business remain high and well above the six-year survey trend. Companies continue to point to tourism as spurring growth, as well as competitive pricing and new marketing campaigns.
Financial services expanded sharply, with its headline indices for activity and new business registering 60.0 and 63.4, respectively. Demand for financial services has accelerated for three straight months as finance remains among the leading sectors, he said, adding that companies continue to face rising costs but were nonetheless able to reduce their own prices charged further to attract new sales and retain high profile customers.
The headline Qatar Financial Centre PMI is a composite single-figure indicator of non-energy private sector performance. It is derived from indicators for new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchases.
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI ) surveys are now available for over 40 countries and for key regions including the Eurozone. They are the most closely watched business surveys in the world, favored by central banks, financial markets and business decision makers for their ability to provide up-to-date, accurate and often unique monthly indicators of economic trends.
Source: Qatar News Agency