LONDON (Alliance News) - The chairman of Qatar Investment Fund PLC on Tuesday backed the Gulf state to recover from the effect of depressed oil and gas prices.
In a statement, Chairman Nicholas Wilson said he remains "optimistic" about Qatar's growth prospects in the medium to long term, adding that equities in the country are trading at a "marked discount" to their historical average.
"The fall in oil and gas prices will continue to impact the Qatari economy as certain lower priority projects may be deferred. However we expect economic growth will continue at over 6% in the coming years, the highest in the GCC region," Wilson said.
As well as Qatar, The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consists of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman.
"Qatar is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and although lower prices have been negotiated, Qatar is defending its market share. The government's diversification policies in recent years have put Qatar in a strong position relative to other Gulf countries," Wilson said.
"Over 60% of GDP is currently generated by the non-hydrocarbon sector. Further population growth, improving demographics and an extensive infrastructure pipeline should fuel continued growth," the chairman added.
His comments came as Qatar Investment Fund said its net asset value per share in the six months ended December 31 fell 16.3%, versus a 14.5% fall in the Qatar Exchange Index and an 18.6% drop in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in the same period.
In November, Qatar Investment Fund survived a discontinuation vote, with the vast majority of shareholders backing the fund to continue. The discontinuation proposal was not passed, with 7.9 million votes cast in favour, 107.7 million votes cast against and 3,207 abstentions.
Shares in the fund were untraded on Tuesday morning. The stock last traded at USD1.04.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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