Mubasher: Qatar's trade balance surplus climbed 39.9% in 2018, according to a report released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) on Wednesday.
The gas-rich country’s trade surplus amounted to QAR 191.43 billion ($52.57 billion) last year, from QAR 136.82 billion ($37.57 billion) in 2017.
The GCC nation’s exports rose 24.9% to QAR 306.8 billion in 2018, against QAR 245.69 billion in the prior year.
Meanwhile, the Qatari imports grew 6% to QAR 115.37 billion last year, versus QAR 108.78 billion in 2017.
As for the fourth quarter of 2018, Qatar’s trade balance surplus leaped 42% to QAR 50.8 billion, as exports grew 16.4% to QAR 79.6 billion, while imports amounted to QAR 28.8 billion, with an 11.6% annual drop.
Exports of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter were primarily focused on fossil fuel and lubricant oils with QAR 86.28 billion, while exported chemicals and machinery amounted to QAR 6.6 billion and QAR 2.3 billion, respectively.
On the other hand, the Qatari imports were focused on machinery which reached QAR 10.91 billion, while other manufactured items, manufactured goods and food and live animals registered QAR 5.76 billion, QAR 4.02 billion and QAR 3.01 billion, respectively.
