(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Satish Kanady & Mohammad Shoeb / The Peninsula
Qatar's expansionary budget proposal's emphasis on major projects and SMEs will help accelerate the pace of the country's non-hydrocarbon sector growth. The QR93bn projected allocation to ‘Major Projects' for the new fiscal will fire up the already growing private sector, believe local investors and businessmen.
The expectation that the projected 2.9 percent increase in the revenues for the next fiscal will derive from the non-oil revenues, reaffirms the government's confidence on its ongoing ambitious economic diversification process, they said.
Qatar's private sector players overwhelmingly welcomed the 2018 budget, which set aside a whopping QR42bn or 21 percent of total expenditures, to transportation and infrastructure sector. They also foresee huge opportunities in the QR11.2bn fund allocated to the Sport and 2022 FIFA World Cup projects.
Allocations to food security sector and SMEs will also help spur the private sector contributions to the GDP.
'The new budget will play an important role in the country's ongoing economic diversification process.., was the immediate reaction of Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani to the budget announcement.
Mubarak Al Najem Al Marri, a Qatari market expert said the 2018 budget reaffirms Qatar's commitment to support the private sector. The overall budget allocations prove that the country's private sector is going to play a bigger role in the national economy. The decision to support SMEs means that more and more young investors; and entrepreneurs will be moving to the private sector.
'The new budget highlights the government's ability to deal with the impact of the unjust blockade on Qatar and extending support to the private sector to emerge as a bigger player in the national economy, Al Marri said .
'I believe the new budget will send strong and positive signal to the market further boosting the confidence of businesses and investors both at local and international level, Ali Hassan Al Khalaf, Chairman of Qatar Consumer Complexes (QCC) told The Peninsula yesterday.
Al Khalaf, a prominent Qatari with diversified business interests, added: 'Maintaining the budgetary allocation to major infrastructure and other developmental projects, including those which are part of the 2022 FIFA games, proves that government is fully committed to complete the projects.
Yet another Qatari businessmen Saad Al Dabbagh, Chairman of Hafeet Group, with diversified business exposure in a wide range of sectors, including IT, education, investment and banking, oil and gas, retail, telecom, travel and tourism and utilities sectors, also echoed similar views on the budget 2018.
Al Dabbagh said: 'Despite the fluctuating oil prices, this budget is very good and encouraging for the business community in general. The huge allocation for the country's developmental projects and other social sectors such as health, education and others, will have positive impact and cascading effects on other sectors of the economy.
Al Dabbagh also noted that the business activities over the last two months have seen good recoveries compared to the initial months of the illegal economic blockade. The new budget will further help increase the pace of economic growth boosting investors' confidence.
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