Qatar’s state budget for the fiscal year 2018 is the reflection of country’s commitment to pursue diversification of its economy. It is a pro-private sector budget carefully designed to give a boost to the country’s future economic targets and aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030. Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has endorsed Qatar’s state budget for the fiscal year 2018 with projected a revenue of QR175.1bn and an estimated expenditure of QR203.2bn.
“The 2018 budget achieves efficiency in current expenditure, while maintaining allocations to major projects that contribute to Qatar’s development. The budget is aligned with the Qatar 2030 Vision (QNV 2030), which focuses on economic, social, human and environmental development”, said H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Minister of Finance.
The budget has pegged an outlay of QR52.2bn to Salaries and Wages, up 8.8 percent, from QR48.0bn earmarked in 2017. This increase is attributed to the launch of a number of new schools and educational facilities, along with new healthcare centers and hospitals in addition to expansion in some public facilities.
Hailing the budget 2108, Chairman of Qatar Chamber Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani has said that it gives the private sector a “wider opportunity to play a bigger role” in the projects put forward by the State. He also expressed hope that the new budget will play an important role in moving the economic process in the coming period, especially as it involves the signing of new projects contracts worth QR 29 billion, which promotes growth in non-oil sectors.
Allocations to major projects will remain at similar level as in 2017 and amounted to QR93.0bn, representing 45.8 percent - the largest share of total expenditure. The focus continues to be on the completion of projects in healthcare, education and transportation sectors, along with those related to 2022 FIFA World Cup. Total allocations for health, education and transportation reached to QR83.5bn or 41 percent of total expenditure. The budget has also set aside fund for the development of logistics, economic and free-trade zones, as well as support for food security projects and agriculture production.
With a total allocation of QR19.0bn in the budget, the country’s education sector is set to witness a major expansion. The allocation to education sector is 19 percent higher, compared to the previous fiscal.
The budget has also special focus on Qatar 2022 projects as the sports and 2022 FIFA World Cup projects will get QR11.2bn. These are primarily focused on the completion of stadiums in Lusail, Qatar Foundation, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Al Khor, in addition to other sport projects. Having a quick glance of the budgetary document one finds it a balanced statement wherein enough attention has been focused and optimum allocations have been made for all the important sectors.
