Qatar expects 10% GDP growth this year - paper

ECONOMIC BLOOM: Standard Chartered expects Qatar's economy to expand about 8.5% this year. (Getty Images)

Qatar's economy should expand about 10 percent this year as the Gulf state continues to boost natural gas production, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing the minister of state for energy and industry affairs.

Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), should boost its LNG capacity to 77 million tonnes per year within the next two years, Doha-based daily The Peninsula reported.

"With the current and planned development in the energy sector, Doha will remain as one of the major energy centres of the world," Mohammad Al Sada said at an event to mark the start of construction of an energy hub in Lusail.

At 10 percent, real GDP growth in Qatar would be the fastest in the oil-exporting Gulf region.

Some economists expect growth in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia of less than 1 percent this year after oil prices collapsed more than $100 a barrel since a peak last July.

"We expect Qatar to continue investing in its economy despite the current slump in commodity prices," Standard Chartered Bank said in a research note on Tuesday.

Standard Chartered expects Qatar's economy to expand about 8.5 percent this year, while inflation would fall to about 8 percent this year from 15.2 percent last year. (Reuters)

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