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Doha: Qatar's Prime Minister said the country's sovereign wealth fund realized USD 7 billion or USD 8 billion in profits from its investments in the first quarter of 2009.
Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani also stressed his country remains committed to its investment in Barclays, offering another vote of confidence in the British bank after Qatar, holding the main investment arm for sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, in April reduced its stake in Barclays to 5.8 per cent through the sale of 35 million shares.
"We intend to retain our shares because we want be long term investors, and we realized excellent profits" in the investment, Sheik Hamad said night at a business leaders gathering in the Qatari capital.
Sheik Hamad said the QIA's investment gains over the first quarter contrasted sharply with losses of over USD 4 billion last year.
Like most sovereign wealth funds run by the Gulf Arab nations, the QIA is largely secretive about its financial situation.
But analysts have estimated that the global economic meltdown has cost these funds over USD 90 billion as global equity markets fell sharply toward the second half of 2008.
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