Data issued by the Qatar Planning and Statistics Authority showed that the Qatari economy contracted by 6.1 percent during the second quarter of this year on an annual basis, as a result of companies closing and activities curtailing due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, at the lowest level since 2012. While the rate of contraction was 1% during the same period in 2019.
According to the data, real GDP shrank by 6.4 percent during the second quarter compared with the first quarter based on constant prices. Transportation and storage activities fell by about 40 percent on an annual basis, accommodation and food services fell 38.7 percent, wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair by more than 30 percent, while the manufacturing sector declined by 11.3 percent.
The central bank had expected last August that the economy would contract this year with lower energy prices and the Coronavirus crisis, after a 3 percent decline last year. While the International Monetary Fund revised its forecasts for Qatar's real GDP to decline in 2020 and forecast a 4.5 percent contraction, compared to its April forecast of a 4.3 percent drop.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net, Edited)
