Dubai : Qatar downplayed the impact of the global credit crisis on its investment plans, saying in media reports that it would continue to boost investments at home and would not pull out of depressed global holdings.
Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has been investing windfall oil revenues in infrastructure and industry and snapping up stakes in international companies. Qatar Investment Authority is among investors from which Credit Suisse Group was raising 10 billion Swiss francs ($8.64 billion) - or about 12 per cent of its outstanding equity.
Qatar is also set to boost its investment in British bank Barclays as part of a £2 billion rescue package, The Observer newspaper reported on Sunday, without citing sources.
Qatar's Prime Minister downplayed the extent of damage from declining overseas stock markets on its economy and the QIA, the Al Sharq newspaper reported.
"We are looking at a long-term strategy in investment and not a limited or temporary strategy," the British newspaper quoted Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani as saying on Monday.
