Mubasher: Qatar National Bank (QNB) has revised up Qatar's overall real gross domestic product (GDP) to 2.8% for 2018, up from the previous rate of 2.5%.
"For the full year of 2017, overall real GDP growth was 1.6% with the non-hydrocarbon sector growing 4.2% and the hydrocarbon sector contracting 1.1%," QNB said in a research note.
The Middle East's largest lender by assets ascribed the revised 2018 expectation to three main reasons, namely the higher incomes and spending in the non-hydrocarbon sector after oil prices increased from $55 per barrel (pb) to $63 pb.
The second reason entailed a sharper rebound in hydrocarbon output as maintenance on liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities appears to have been finalised in 2017, but should now be completed, QNB noted.
Third, the economic impact of the four-Arab nation's boycott with Qatar has had a less-than-expected implication, therefore, reduced the expected drag from the blockade on 2018 GDP.
Qatar’s GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was adversely impacted by the hydrocarbon sector.
The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics' (MDPS) data showed an unexpected drop of 6.4% in hydrocarbon production in Q4, compared to the previous quarter, QNB said.
It is noteworthy that crude production rose to 4.3% in Q4-17, from 3.7% in the same quarter a year earlier.
According, QNB revised up its forecast for nonhydrocarbon growth in 2018 to 5.0% from 4.8% and for hydrocarbon growth to 0.5% from flat.
"This implies an overall real GDP growth rate of 2.8% in 2018 up from our previous forecast of 2.5%," the research note highlighted.
