Qatar’s society is moving from paper-based payment system to electronic payments, which is a sign that the country is in the league of advanced countries. Transition from paper-based transactions to electronic mode is considered a sign of development and helps the economy to grow faster. Electronic payments reduce cost of operations and helps in stimulating economy.
The number of transactions through cheques in Qatar fell last year while the transactions through electronic mode have increased in 2017, according to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) data.
The size of Qatar’s payment system reached approximately QR3.9 trillion in 2017, according to the central bank. Transactions under QATCH increased by 9.2 percent to QR85.6bn in 2017 while the volume increased by 9.3 percent over the previous year.
QATCH is a secure electronic network system in Qatar, which handles the financial transactions, in Qatari riyals, among the banks within Qatar.
“Cost efficiency has been at the forefront of arguments for moving from paper-based to electronic payment instruments. Studies have shown that significant savings can be achieved in the transition from cash and paper-based to electronic payment instruments,” noted World Economic Forum in one of its reports.
The preference for electronic transactions in Qatar was visible by decline in the transactions through cheques.
A total of 4.5 million cheques were processed in 2017. The total value of electronic cheques clearing (ECC) was QR299.2bn in 2017, that showed a fall of 3.9 percent while the volume of such cheques declined by 0.7 percent compared to previous year.
Many other figures have demonstrated that Qatar’s economy going strong. QNB, in April, had revised up Qatar’s overall real GDP to 2.8 percent for 2018, from 2.5 percent previously.
The country’s economy has even won praise from officials of global institutions. Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde had said, on February 13 this year, that the steady growth in Qatar’s non-oil economy is a reflection of the country’s good diversification policy.
Qatar’s growth in the non-oil sector is pretty much on a par with the non-oil growth in the oil importing countries, the IMF Chief had said in a round-table discussion on “Strategic Outlook: Qatar in its New Era”, at Qatar University.
Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tao Zhang, in the second week of April, had praised the economic policies of Qatar and its success in overcoming economic crises affecting the global economy.
All these confirms firmness of Qatar’s economy.
