Doha Bank: 2008 Crisis Effect

The World Economic Outlook October 2008 was briefed to the press by Mr. Olivier Blanchard, IMF Economic Counselor with his team in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on the 8th October 2008 at the IMF Headquarters, Washington D.C., USA, in the sidelines of 2008 Annual IMF-World Bank meet.

Reporters affirmed that the Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank Mr. Seetharaman, said: “The current world economic outlook report, placed today, provides us with the detailed analysis of the world economy; considering the issues affecting industrial countries, developing countries, and economies in transition. The report placed by Mr. Olivier Blanchard and his team has focused succinctly the scenario existing in the world economy, and has clearly emphasized the importance of implementing joint financial and macroeconomic policies not only to stem the negative momentum among the world economies but also calls for better implementation of monetary and fiscal policies to reduce the gap existing among the financial and real sectors.

Only with right macroeconomic and financial policies, the recovery from the current crisis is expected say in the course of 2009. The ongoing world economic downturn, faced due to this financial crisis, could be a major one since the 1930’s economic crisis. The sluggish growth among the world economies since mid-2008, owing to increase in the commodity prices, increase in oil prices and inflation, in my opinion is expected to continue in early 2009 too and I anticipate it to recover only say in the later part of 2009 at a gradual pace.

Though inflation in advanced economies is easing owing to stabilization in commodity prices, the effect of inflation among emerging economies have sharply increased and I expect inflation to remain high until 2008 end. The 12-month inflation registered only an increase of 4.25% among advanced economies as against an increase of 8.25% among the emerging economies; similar high inflationary periods were experienced way back in late 1990s” Mr. Seetharaman said.

Mr. Seetharaman further said “On a simple assessment, the advanced economies have grown only at 1% since Q4 2007 until Q2 2008. The emerging and developing economies have also not escaped from this downturn. In my opinion growth has been most resilient in commodity-exporting countries, while countries that relied heavily on bank-related or portfolio inflows to finance large current account deficits have been hit hard by this abrupt tightening of financing. The baseline projections on the global economy is undergoing a major downturn, with growth falling to its slowest pace since the 2001-2002 recession, although a gradual recovery is expected by late 2009. We will see the eventual recovery upon the unwinding of adverse terms-of-trade effects as commodity prices stabilizing; on turnaround in the U.S. housing market; and rising confidence upon resolution of the liquidity and solvency problems in core financial institutions. In my opinion considering the current circumstances, the world economic growth projected at 3% for 2009 as against 3.9% for 2008 and 5% for 2007, is realistic”.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Seetharaman said “One important aspect, also pointed out in this report, we all have to look into despite emerging economies slowdown at this point in time is that, the strong productivity drive and the improving policy frameworks among the emerging economies, including the Middle Eastern and GCC region, provides a vital source of resilience to the world economy.”

Doha Bank: Best Commercial Bank

Doha: Doha Bank, Qatar’s leading commercial bank, has once again been voted as the BEST COMMERCIAL BANK 2010, the fourth time in six years.

Earlier it had won the same accolade in 2005, 2007 and 2009. This is also Doha Bank’s second award this year having won the BEST CUSTOMER CARE AWARD in April.

Mr. Seetharaman, Doha Bank’s Group CEO received the prestigious award from The Banker Middle East at a glittering ceremony attended by all of those concerned by the region’s banking industry in Dubai on June 16, 2010.

The Banker Middle East Awards recognize and honor those who have excelled, and exceeded customer expectations throughout the Arab region.

“Receiving the award once again is a great honor but getting it for the fourth time is an outstanding recognition bestowed on us by the peers in our industry. Guided by our Chairman, H.E. Sheikh Fahad bin Jabor Al Thani, our MD, H.E. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Jabor Al Thani, and our Board of Directors, we will continue to grow, develop and succeed in the future. We also share this award with our customers and all stakeholders who with their support and trust in Doha Bank have helped in our achievements,” said Mr Seetharaman.

“The bank has posted strong growth driven by our innovative customer focused services. This award will further bolster our resolve to build on the goodwill of our peers and our customers and set the highest benchmarks in the industry,” he added.

The awards are recognition of Doha Bank’s customer driven initiatives which have seen it introduce new and innovative products while adding exceptional benefits to existing products even during tough market conditions resulting from the global financial meltdown. Through the years it has forged ahead providing the highest level of customer service to its new as well as existing loyal customer base in the corporate as well as retail sectors.

A testament to its raising industry bar on customer services is the Best Customer Care award it received for its “Tawasol” Customer Care Center which was opened earlier this year.
Other products and services which have set it apart from its competitors in the region include Al Dana, one of the successful retail brands of Doha Bank.

The Al Dana Gold draw launched this year is the best customer reward scheme introduced by a bank in Qatar where 25 kilos of gold and millions in cash are being given away as prizes to loyal customers.
Not to mention that Doha Bank was also the first Bank to start with a Salary Transfer promotion in Qatar.
Other initiatives include the introduction of the Supply Chain Financing for SMEs and SME cards. Far from resting on its laurels the bank has thrived on a vigorous and proactive approach.

The latest Dream Card campaign is again one of its only kinds in Qatar where card members are rewarded with 25 per cent cash back on travel expenses paid using Doha Bank’s Dream cards.
Doha Bank has reached out to the larger community through its long standing corporate social responsibility activities where it is committed to raise awareness on environmental issues. Its Green Quiz is part of this ongoing CSR program. As part of its knowledge sharing initiative in the corporate sector it hosted a seminar on Changing market Dynamics where industry experts focused on the economic challenges facing the world and the region.

Doha Bank, BEST COMMERCIAL BANK has been in operation for more than 30 years having now more than 30 branches.

Doha Bank: No layoffs in Islamic business.

“Islamic bank employees retained, excess staff redeployed; Creating new project and risk advisory division at bank.” – Reuters.

But still, “Doha Bank will not lay off any employees impacted by the Qatar central bank’s ban on conventional banks engaging in Islamic finance”, its chief executive said on Monday.

Raghavan Seetharaman said the bank will honor existing commitments from Islamic business undertaken before Qatar’s decision.

“We have committed billions of riyals that we have to go ahead and finance. There is no stopping on that,” Seetharaman told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.
Seetharaman said that the bank will retain its Islamic branch employees to oversee the sharia-compliant business it currently has but is not writing new business. He added that excess staff has already been deployed to its conventional operations.

In February, Qatar’s central bank asked conventional lenders to close down their Islamic operations amid worries of overlap between the two.
The order gave lenders a grace period until Dec. 31 to shutter operations but did not provide clarity on whether banks can apply for separate Islamic banking licenses or be permitted to sell assets to Qatar’s wholly-Islamic banks.

“Islamic operations accounted for around 11 % of Doha Bank’s total book value” Seetharaman said in February.
Separately, Seetharaman said that Doha Bank will be hiring additional staff as it sets up a new project and risk advisory division.

“Project and risk advisory, that is the new division we are creating. It is at the first stage, and there has been a good response. We are going to work on it.”

Qatar Development Bank in Doha is now recruiting

The QDB in doha is now offering the chance for motivated individuals to be recruited among the existing team.
Competitive salary packages and more will be offered for experienced and skilled applicants. Applicants should be fluent in arabic and english. Job vacancies offered are:

- T & D Specialist
- Head of Strategy
- Strategy & Business Development Manager
- Head of Business Development
- Risk Analyst
- Corporate Planning & PMO Manager
- Corporate Planning Officer
- Business Analyst – SME Advisory Services
- Business Counselor- SME Advisory
- System Administrator
- UNIX Administrator
- Oracle DBA

www.qdb.com.qa

Doha Bank in Ramadan(Special Loan)

Doha Bank offers in Ramadan a special loan for customers’ spending in the Eid. this loan can reach the limit of QR 100000. It could be offered to government and non government employees.
This loan is divided into 2 packages.

The first one is for employees that have a maximum income of QR 5000 who can be emboursed untill the amount of QR 50000.
Whereas the second package is for employees with an income of QR 10000 which are offered an amount of QR 100000.

Both packages are paid along a 24 months duration with adequate fixed, monthly installments.

Ladies Package at Doha Bank

Doha Bank offers the ladies a special package for opening their accounts. It is an offer for private and public sector female workers.

It includes:
- 1 month salary transfer
- No balance charges on the account
- Free safe deposit box for 1 year only
- Free cheque books
- Special interest rate