Mubasher: Money supply (M2) at Qatar-based banks hiked 16.09% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2018.
M2 stood at QAR 601.67 billion ($165.28 billion) in Q1-18, versus QAR 518.30 billion ($142.38 billion) in the prior-year period, according to recent data issued by the Qatar Central Bank's (QCB).
It is worth noting that M2 includes banks’ current and saving accounts, as well as fixed-term deposits.
On a quarterly basis, M2 slashed 0.3% in the three-month period ended March 2018, as it totalled QAR 603.330 billion in Q4-17.
The data showed that total banknotes issued by the QCB hiked in March to the highest level since last November, amounting to QAR 16.97 billion.
Qatar’s foreign reserve retreated by 17% to QAR 137.74 billion in March 2018, compared to QAR 166.1 billion in the same month last year.
Banks’ assets have maintained its outstanding performance, rising 8.8% last March to QAR 1,394.78 billion, from QAR 1,282.55 billion in March 2017, according to QCB’s monthly budget bulletin.
The central bank had previously posted that M2 surged 15.7% year-on-year in February 2018 to QAR 598.53 billion ($164.36 billion) from QAR 517.39 billion ($142.08 billion).
