Qatar
Investment Authority, the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, will complete its
purchase of a 20 percent stake in certain Qatar banks by the end of the first
quarter, state-run Qatar News Agency reported.
The
wealth fund will purchase up to 20 percent of shares in certain banks, the
agency said, citing
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani, without specifying the
lenders.
The fund has already raised its stake in banks by 10 percent, the news agency
reported, in a bid to prop up lenders damaged by the economic crisis.
The
stake buy would not cover any dividends resulting from the bank’s activities in
2010.
QIA
began buying bank shares in December 2008 after announcing it planned to inject
$5.3bn in local banks – including Commercial Bank and Doha Bank – to shore up
investor confidence and sustain project financing during the downturn.
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