In implementation of the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to support and provide financial and economic incentives amounting to QR75bn to the private sector, and directives of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, to allocate QR3bn guarantees for local banks, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has launched  the  National Guarantee Program to provide guarantees for local banks to grant loans to  affected companies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and QCB  and all banks operating in the country, in response to the implications of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The National Guarantee Program aims to support salaries and rents of companies in the private sector. QDB will manage and issue the guide for this program, while banks operating in the country will grant financing with a guarantee from QDB. QDB stated that companies wishing to benefit from the program are required to be fully owned by the private sector, and to be registered in the wage protection system in force in the State of Qatar.

The program’s mechanism of work includes providing a 100 percent coverage guarantee by QDB  to the commercial and Islamic banks granting the financing without any fees or commissions being charged to the guarantee granted, whether by the commercial or Islamic banks or the beneficiary companies for the grace period, provided that the financing is paid by the beneficiary company to the commercial and Islamic donor banks within a maximum of three years, including a one-year grace period.

Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer  of QDB said the launch of the National Guarantee Program  to respond to the consequences of COVID-19 in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Qatar Central Bank and all commercial and Islamic banks in Qatar, is a continuation of the efforts of the State to provide all types of support for SMEs and various components of the private sector in Qatar during the current circumstances.

He added that the programme will give private companies a great ability to face the economic effects associated with the repercussions of the pandemic, and will ensure that they continue to work in a manner that does not affect the general course of their commercial operations, which will give them a greater ability to continue after the difficulties associated with the current circumstance and the return of matters to normal.