Qatar GDP predicted to grow by 18% in 2009

by Andy Sambidge Sunday, 12 October 2008

Qatar's largest lender Qatar National Bank (QNB) is predicting that the Gulf state's economy will grow by 26 percent this year.

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And amid the global financial turmoil, the bank’s economics, financial analysis and research department said it expects Qatar’s nominal GDP to reach $106 billion in 2009, up 18.3 percent on 2008.
QNB’s researchers have forecast that Qatar’s GDP per capita will reach $63,867 by the end of 2009, placing it among the wealthiest nations in the world, Qatar Times reported.

In its special edition of Qatar Economic Review, QNB said Qatar’s economy would continue to be driven by the natural gas sector and related industries.

The country’s economic diversification and ongoing expansion in the oil and gas sector has laid a “strong foundation” for its continuous growth, the study said.

And QNB researchers expect the country's non-oil and gas sector to play a greater role and contribute significantly to the GDP as projects such as Qatar Financial Centre, Education City and Energy City Qatar take off.

However, the oil and gas sector still played a significant part this year, the report added, contributing 76.8 percent of the GDP.

While Qatar’s economy will have an exponential growth this year, QNB said it would also witness inflation higher than in 2007. Inflation stood at 13.8 percent last year compared with 11.8 percent in 2006.

Inflation in Qatar has risen rapidly and increased more than five-fold in recent years, averaging 8.7 percent between 2003 and 2007, the report added.



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