Qatar’s GDP growth is expected to accelerate during the remainder of 2013 to reach 6.5% for the full year and 6.8% in 2014, supported by large infrastructure investments and associated population growth, according to the partially state-owned Qatar National Bank (QNB).
These boosts will more than offset the strong headwinds from the global economy, QNB says in a 14 July commentary. These numbers are much more bullish than the IMF’s latest (May) projections of 5.2% for 2013 and 5.0% for 2014 (see table). Finance minister Yusuf Kamal, when unveiling Qatar’s 2013-14 budget in April gave a yet more modest 2013 growth target of “over 4%,” (MEES, 5 April). (CONTINUED - 505 WORDS)
