Mubasher: Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi expected that Qatar's economy will grow 3% in 2018.
The 2018 budget will focus on developing local industries and the private sector, he said on the sidelines of the Euromoney Qatar Conference 2017 kicked off on 5 December in Doha, noting the opening of 52 new factories in the next year.
Qatar’s finance minister said that assets of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which is known as sovereign wealth fund, are generating "great returns", citing QIA’s stakes in Volkswagen, London’s Shard skyscraper and the Harrods department store as examples.
The QIA has been authorised to invest Qatar’s surplus money in long-term assets, al Emadi said, affirming that the authority would stay engaged in international markets.
On the back of four Arab states' sanctions against the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, the QIA has been injecting some of its money to shore up Qatari lenders and the economy this year.
