Qatar is performing better and better with each passing day. The economy is one of the best performing in the region and has recorded a steady growth for the last couple years despite all odds.
It’s evident from the fact that the world rating agency S&P Global has affirmed the country’s sovereign ratings with a stable outlook and said that government assets to remain as a core strength of the economy.
The agency also forecast that the GDP is expected to grow by 2.8 percent and the current account surplus will be averaging 4.5 percent of GDP in 2019-2022, assuming lower hydrocarbon prices in the future.
The interesting thing that the S&P Global has said in its report was that the infrastructure programmes carried out by the government is very much supportive of the economic growth.
The report said that at an estimated 45 percent of GDP, about one-third of which is public-sector funded, Qatar’s investment spending is among the highest of all the sovereigns they rate.
“The stable outlook primarily reflects our view that Qatar will continue to effectively mitigate the economic and financial fallout of the siege imposed on the country in June 2017 and that Qatar will continue to pursue prudent macroeconomic policies that support large recurrent fiscal and external surpluses over 2019-2022,” the S&P report said.
The agency highlighted that Qatari authorities have sufficient resources to continue managing the consequences of the blockade, and Qatar will continue to generate surrpluses in its budgetary and external accounts over our 2019-2022 rating horizon.
The significant thing the rating agency noted in its report about the impact of the blockade is interesting and should be an eye-opening for others. It says that the impact of the siege on the external performance has been limited as most of its export earnings from gas come from Asian customers. The report also mentioned that investments related to the government’s sizable infrastructure programme will continue to support economic activity, outweighing negative sentiment related to the ongoing blockade by the Arab quartet.
The agency also noted that increasing non-resident deposits demonstrate strengthening investor confidence in the financial sector of the country.
Commenting on the overall institutional and economic profile, the global rating agency said that the government policies will continue to support economic growth. It also mentioned that in the base case scenario, the siege could continue for an extended period, but it did not expect any regional geopolitical risks to escalate significantly.
All these factors clearly show how the able leadership of Qatar has diligently planned and executed various economic projects even in adverse conditions with confidence and grit.
