A view of QCB building.
Doha: Qatar’s economy has recovered from the impact of COVID-19 outbreak with the help of timely support by the government. The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management (to combat COVID-19), presided by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in March announced a whopping QR75bn stimulus package to the private sector. Additionally, QR10bn was injected to boost the country’s capital market.
The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) had put in place an appropriate mechanism directing banks to postpone loan repayments and the private sector’s other obligations to the banks, for a period of six months, which was later on extended until December.
The Supreme Committee also directed Qatar Development Bank (QDB) to postpone the installments of all borrowers, and government funds to increase their investments in Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) by QR10bn. As per the decision, the QCB provided additional liquidity to banks operating in the country.
In another major relief to the food industry, the worst-hit sector after the COVID-19 outbreak, the Supreme Committee exempted the food industry from customs duties for a period of six months, which has been extended for another three months. The medical goods were also exempted from customs duties for the same period.
The Committee decided to exempt Hospitality and Tourism sector, retail sector, Commercial Complexes and Logistics areas from electricity and water bills.
Another major decision by the Supreme Committee was to exempt Qatar’s emerging logistics zones and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from rents during the same period.
In October, a QDB official has said that the stimulus package of the National Guarantee Programme has already issued support guarantees to more than 3,500 companies since the launch of the incentive programme. The program aims at providing financing grants to cover salaries and rents for companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the private sector.
The programme is part of the State’s QR75bn financial stimulus package in response to the pandemic and is managed by QDB. The original stimulus package of the National Guarantee Programme, which amounted to QR3bn has been increased by an additional QR2bn, bringing the ceiling of the programme to QR5bn.
Most recently, the QDB has announced that it has extended the time period of receiving applications for the National Guarantee Program until June 15, 2021, noting that it will continue to manage and supervise the program, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and QCB, and all banks operating in the country.
