Mubasher: The Qatari economy has slowed down to 1.6% in 2017 from 2.2% in 2016, data released by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) showed.
Qatar’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) registered a growth of 9.9% in 2017, up from 7.4% achieved in 2016, the ninth financial stability report issued by the QCB showed on Wednesday.
The report attributed the growth in nominal GDP to the strong performance seen in the manufacturing, commercial, construction, and hydrocarbon sectors, added to oil prices moving in line with the strategy adopted by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which had involved trimming daily output, by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd).
Qatar was negatively impacted by the diplomatic rift with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE. The rift occurred in mid-2017 and involved cutting land, air, and marine ties with Qatar.
Nominal GDP is when GDP is evaluated at current market prices and includes all changes in market prices that have taken place during a given year due to inflation or deflation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast the Qatari economy would grow by 2.6% in 2018, which is in line with forecasts by the World Bank.
The IMF also projected Qatar’s economy to grow by 2.7% between 2019 and 2023 on the back of the government’s plan to increase its output of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 30% annually.
