Qatari government revenues fell to a three-year low of $10.7bn last quarter despite modest gains from the key oil and gas sector. The latest revenue figures highlight the extent of the economic headwinds caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which is projected by the IMF to cause the economy to shrink by 4.5% this year.
This would be the first time that the economy has shrunk on an annual basis since 2017, and this year’s decline is expected to dwarf that year’s 1.5%. The latest government figures show that the economy shrank by a massive 6.1% in Q2 versus a year earlier (see chart 1), and while that is likely to prove the trough, the recovery will likely be slow. (CONTINUED - 652 WORDS)
