Qatar Adopts 2017 Budget With $7.8 Billion Deficit
Faizan Hashmi Published December 15, 2016 | 08:55 PM
DOHA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2016 ) : Qatar, hit by low energy prices and the soaring costs of hosting the 2022 World Cup, approved its 2017 budget on Thursday with a deficit of $7.77 billion (7.45 billion Euros).
The Gulf state's Finance Minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi said the shortfall was down 39 percent on last year due to streamlining measures including public sector job cuts. The major gas and oil exporter expects revenues of 170 billion Qatari Riyals ($46.7 billion, 44.8 billion euros), nine percent up from 2016 estimates, partly due to growing non-oil revenues, Emadi said.
The budget, Qatar's second consecutive deficit after 15 straight years in surplus, was calculated on the basis of an oil price of $45 per barrel, Emadi told the official Qatar news Agency. That is slightly lower than its current rate of just over $50.
Emadi said public spending would be down two percent compared to last year.
The government is trying to save money by merging ministries and laying off public sector workers and plans to slash the public wage bill by 1.5 billion riyals.
Doha hopes to avoid dipping into Currency reserves or investments, but will finance the deficit by selling debt on international markets, he added. The state is planning to commission projects worth 46.1 billion riyals over the next year, including around 8.5 billion riyals on World Cup infrastructure.
Qatar has the world's third-largest natural gas reserves and produces between 700,000 and 800,000 barrels of oil a day. Like other Gulf countries, it has been forced to tighten its belt since its revenues plunged following a 2014 collapse in the price of crude. Despite a recent recovery, oil prices remain at about half their mid-2014 levels.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
Earthquake jolts Karachi
Sindh minister orders operation after attack on police in Ghotki
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
More Stories From World
-
Football: English Championship table
5 hours ago -
Time for 'democratic transition' in Venezuela: opposition candidate to AFP
5 hours ago -
Spain's Pedro Sanchez : a risk-taker with a flair for survival
5 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 table
5 hours ago -
Nadal will only play French Open if he can 'compete well'
6 hours ago -
Ukraine, Israel, TikTok: the massive aid package before US Congress
6 hours ago
-
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
6 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 results
6 hours ago -
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
7 hours ago -
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
7 hours ago -
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
7 hours ago -
Anger among Ukrainians in Poland as Kyiv halts passport renewals
7 hours ago