Qatar exchange launches debt instrument market

Qatar Exchange (QE) successfully launched the debt instrument market Thursday, the year''s last business day, with the trading of government short-term treasury bills. Speaking to Qatar News Agency a spokesperson for QE said, "We have successfully launched debt instruments market. It''s a historic moment for Qatar Exchange and the country with the listing of treasury bills." In the past few weeks, the QE had put in place its "full operational and regulatory readiness" to set rolling the debt market with the admission of the Qatari government short-term treasury bills for trade beginning today after receiving approval from the Qatar Financial Markets’ Authority (QFMA) the official regulator. Set up in 1997, the Qatari bourse will for the first time have a debt market, since so far only equities have been traded on it. This is a first step towards setting up a secondary market for bonds on the Qatari bourse that would provide opportunities for diversification of investment avenues. An active debt market could encourage companies to issue bonds and debentures to mobilize funds, reducing their reliance on bank lending.