Qatar Central Bank Governor, H E Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani addressing the panel discussion.
Doha, Qatar: The first day of the Qatar Economic Forum witnessed experts discussing various trends that shape the future of money, wealth, economy, and finance.
In a panel session entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence and Reinventing Banking’, the Governor of Qatar Central Bank, H E Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, and the Governor of Central Bank of the Republic of Turkiye, Dr. Fatih Karahan underscored the artificial intelligence (AI) outlook and its importance of easing inflation by enlightening on shaping the AI-powered future of finance.
The pivotal discussion highlighted central banks across the globe positioning themselves to maintain financial stability whilst emerging technologies such as AI impact the economies.
Governor Sheikh Bandar outlined that in the previous year, the inflation improved significantly. However, from the beginning of 2024 until today, inflation has varied from one country to another.
In the US, inflation remains high, while the European markets indicate that the inflation has fallen since 2023.
Sheikh Bandar said that as a central bank, the primary duty is to maintain financial stability, which is why high rates are kept in Qatar despite the inflation has declined to a reasonable rate adding that “Our job is to maintain growth as well protect it.”
Regarding inflation between AI and inflation mid-term to long term, the technology will contribute towards bringing the inflation down, he said.
He underlined that “AI is used to enhance efficiency and protectivity and also to improve profitability. AI also might replace some of the jobs so mid-term to long-term contributes to bringing inflation down.”
On the other hand, mentioning the current inflation rate in Turkiye, Dr. Karahan stated that the latest reading is 69.8 percent and can further up to 75 percent.
He said: “To look at market expectations, it agrees 100 percent that it will come down. Our forecast and target for this year’s end is 38 percent. But market expectations are around 44 percent.”
The Governor mentioned that the inflation in Turkiye is anticipated to slow down during the second half of the year.
“For adoption, we need a workforce that’s agile and retrained. And can be used in technologies. It is going to be key in making sure that an adoptive technology and we can make the best out of it, Dr. Karahan said.
Accentuating the productivity, he said that it’s clear that the potential is unique and can be seen in news, and magazines, while its impact is uncertain.
