Qatar Commercial Bank to Continue to Build Buffers Against Risk

(Bloomberg) --

Commercial Bank of Qatar will continue to build buffers against risk for the rest of the year to protect itself from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to its group chief executive officer.

Lenders in the gas-rich Gulf state are building up “significant risk buffers in anticipation of prudent provisioning for what may happen once the stimulus measures are taken off,” Joseph Abraham said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Sunday.

Qatar has a “great degree of resilience” after a Saudi-led standoff that started in 2017, which impacted similar sectors hit by this year’s pandemic. “The banking sector has managed its exposure in these various areas,” he said.

Last week, Commercial Bank of Qatar reported a 8.2% rise in net operating income for the first half.

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