Qatar – Mubasher: The Qatari announced Wednesday its budget for the fiscal year 2016, expecting a deficit of QAR 46.5 billion ($12.8 billion).
The budget was approved by HH Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and will be effective from 1 January, 2016.
Minister of Finance Ali Shareef Al Emadi, said in a press release that the 2016 budget builds on the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016, which is currently in its fifth year. He stressed that the budget demonstrates the government's keenness to continue the implementation of its sustainable development program with a clear focus on major projects in health, education and infrastructure, in addition to projects related to the hosting of the World Cup in 2022.
Al Emadi explained that the projected revenues for the 2016 fiscal year are QAR 156.0 billion, compared with QAR 225.7bn in the previous fiscal year. The decline in revenues is due to a reduction in the oil price assumption to $48 per barrel, compared with $65 per barrel in the previous fiscal year. This assumption aligns the budget with market expectations of prices in the coming year.
The projected expenditure is QAR 202.5 billion in 2016, compared with QAR 218.4 billion in the previous fiscal year, leading to a budgeted deficit of QAR 46.5 billion, due to the sharp drop in oil and gas prices in global energy markets, which are down by over 50% compared with prevailing prices in 2014.
