Qatar seeks diversification from energy wealth
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Yousef Hussein Kamal: working against inflation |
Yousef Hussein Kamal is a busy man. Not only is he Qatar’s finance minister; he is also acting minister of economy and commerce, chairman of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, chairman of Qatar National Bank, chairman of Doha Securities Market, chairman of Ras Laffan Liquified Natural Gas, chairman of RasGas, deputy chairman of Qatar Petroleum, a director of Qatar Telecommunications, a director of Qatar Central Bank, general-secretary of the supreme council on economic affairs and investment (which oversees Qatar Investment Authority), as well as a director or vice-chairman of many other local institutions. Not that he believes he has too much on his plate. "It depends on how you manage your responsibilities," he says when asked about his multiple roles. One of the benefits, he says, is that if a decision needs to be made by one of the companies that he serves, he can consider it from different perspectives. When QNB, for example, decided to increase its capital, Kamal was able to approve the decision directly.
But isn’t there a conflict of interest in a finance minister also acting as chairman of the country’s biggest bank? It’s an accusation that Kamal rejects.