(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Deepak John
|
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Minister of Finance H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari presented Qatar's general budget for the fiscal year 2025 during a press conference, yesterday.
Speaking about the estimates of average economic GDP growth rate for the years 2025-2029, Minister Al Kuwari, said“Concerning the expectations for the economic growth in the coming five years (2025-2029) we anticipate that in the year 2025 the growth will increase to 2.4 percent, in 2026 (5.2%); in 2027 (7.9%); in 2028 (3.5%). It will be in the range of 1.6% in the year 2029, so the average over the five years will be 4.1%. This is an excellent percentage.”
Minister of Finance further indicated the leap in the country's GDP growth to 7.9 percent in 2027, from around 2.4 percent in 2025 is mainly due to the start of production in the LNG expansion projects, and its gradual increase from 2026 until 2030 to reach the targeted levels of QatarEnergy, explaining that this gradual increase will be positively reflected in the growth of the GDP.
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Replying to a query by The Peninsula about the reason for the increase in Section Two expenses (current expenditures) from QR71.8bn in 2024 to QR76.3bn in 2025, Minister Al Kuwari said,“This increase is related to Third National Development Strategy and part of this strategy is in the operational side and another on the capital side. All these initiatives in National Development Strategy are for investments in the economy and future.”
During the event, Minister of Finance highlighted allocation of budget for different sectors, economic and sustainability targets, expectations for economic growth and activities in the upcoming years. He elaborated regarding the inflation rate, oil and gas prices expected in the budget and policies of working with the deficit and surplus; revenues and expenditures and different chapters in the budget; the plan of government contracts, public debts and credit ratings.
Revealing the details of the general budget for 2025, he noted that Qatar's total expected revenues for the 2025 fiscal year budget are estimated at QR197bn, reflecting a 2.5 percent decrease compared to the 2024 budget revenues.
The Minister emphasised that Qatar continues to adopt a conservative approach in estimating oil and gas revenues, with an average oil price of $60 per barrel. This approach aims to enhance financial flexibility and ensure spending stability.
The financial framework anticipates the spending and focuses on the revenues based on many scenarios. Part of this financial framework considers any surplus which is used to settle down debt and also support Qatar Central Bank needs and also increase capital of Qatar investment fund. This surplus also creates another fund within the Ministry of Finance to deal with the shocks, he added.
He noted that the anticipated oil and gas revenues for 2025 are QR154bn, down from QR159bn in the 2024 budget, marking a 3.1 percent decrease.
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