With the first anniversary of the Qatar embargo looming on 5 June, Doha’s finances look to have largely coped with the upheaval. New import and export routes were quickly established, enabling the emirate to capitalize on rising oil prices and cut its budget deficit by a third in 2017.
Latest data from the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) show that the emirate’s budget deficit came in at $9.7bn in 2017. While this was $1.9bn more than budgeted for, it was a $4.2bn improvement on 2016 (see table). As a percentage of GDP, the deficit fell by more than a third: from 9.2% in 2016 to 5.8% last year. This year’s deficit is budgeted at $7.7bn (MEES, 30 March). (CONTINUED - 709 WORDS)
