Mubasher: Qatar achieved a budget surplus of QAR 6.06 billion ($1.67 billion) in the second quarter of 2018 against a deficit of QAR 6.04 billion ($1.6 billion) in the same period of 2017, data released on Wednesday showed.
This data indicates that the Qatari budget has logged a surplus for the second quarter in a row, after it registered QAR 1.042 billion in Q1-18, the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) said.
The surplus achieved in Q2-18 represents 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) of QAR 171.51 billion registered during the same period.
Qatar’s Q3-18 surplus came on the back of a 35.4% surge in general revenues during the period to QAR 54.94 billion from QAR 40.57 billion achieved in Q2-17, the QCB said.
Total general spending amounted to QAR 48.88 billion during the three-month period ended 30 June 2018, up 4.8% year-on-year from QAR 46.62 billion.
Qatar’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) previously estimated that the country’s budget deficit would amount to QAR 28.1 billion in 2018, down 1.1% from QAR 28.4 billion in 2017. This deficit would be financed through the issuance of debt instruments, the ministry had said.
