Doha, Qatar: Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) organised a week-long training course (20 training hours) for employees in its various specialized departments on “Local Currency Bond Market” (LCBM).
The training course covered a range of issues related to the development of local government bond markets, noting that its introduction comes based on the requirements and recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to develop the local currency bond market in emerging markets.
QFMA is working on providing new training programs and courses that meet the needs of the local market, where QFMA seeks through these training programs and courses to keep pace with the IMF recommendations, so that they include everything that would contribute to qualifying employees and national cadres in the QFMA’s specialized departments and nurturing their professional expertise and experiences.
The course on the “Local Currency Bond Market” was a valuable opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that contribute to the promotion and development of bond markets at the local level, as there is great importance to qualify employees in specialized departments, and familiarize them with the necessary skills, practices and modern strategies in the development of local bonds and sukuk, and the impact of the policies adopted by QFMA on local
bonds.
Through this specialised training course, QFMA sought to provide deep and practical insights on how to enhance and develop the infrastructure and methods necessary to promote the local bond market, by exploring a variety of concepts and tools that can help develop this market effectively.
The course focused mainly on modern strategies and practices that contribute to enhancing market liquidity, increasing investor confidence, and discussed pioneering methods in infrastructure development and policies that contribute to making the local bond market more attractive to investors. In addition, the specialized training course discussed, through research and discussion, the IMF recommendations for the development of the local currency bond market in emerging markets.
The training course also included topics and issues related to a number of key themes, most notably the macroeconomy and the financial services sector, as QFMA exerts great and continuous efforts to enhance the performance of the Qatari financial services sector within the macroeconomic components. The financial services sector is one of the major contributors to the Qatari economy, second only to the hydrocarbon sector, reflecting the sector’s position in shaping the Qatari economy as one of the most stable, resilient and competitive global economies. The training course also included the analysis of the types of bonds and the yield curve, bonds and sukuk in the State of Qatar, in addition to discussing the requirements for developing the local currency bond market in the State of Qatar.
During the specialised course in this context, it was stressed that QFMA, as a supervisory and regulatory authority, and within the framework of its awareness and educational role, seeks to stimulate investment in the local bond market, by encouraging shareholders and private sector companies to invest in this market, and to benefit from the many positives and benefits it offers, as investment in bonds is still not widely activated in the Qatari market.
The yield on bonds in the Qatari market is considered feasible for investors, whether individuals or the private sector, due to the absence of the risk of non-payment, or delay in the repayment process, based on the strength of the Qatari economy, high confidence in its reputation, the strength of Qatari companies and their high financial efficiency, and the availability of liquidity for such companies.
What encourages investment in Qatar’s bond market and ensures its success is that government bonds, or bonds issued by Qatari companies, are highly rated by most of the major international credit rating agencies, namely Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch.
Bonds are investment securities that have feasibility, returns, positives and profits such as stocks, and investing in the bond market is no less important than investing in the stock market, especially since investment in the bond is guaranteed value, and investment in bonds contributes to diversifying shareholders’ investment basket and the private sector, as well as that investing in bonds alongside shares, reduces risks, and reflects positively on expanding the scope of expected returns and profits.
