“Fitch” Expects Qatar's Budget Surplus to Rise by 15 percent

  • Doha, State of Qatar
  • 14 April 2022
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“Fitch”, the global credit rating agency, revealed that Qatar is among the countries with the highest levels of GDP per capita in the world, as it is characterized by a resilient public financial structure and favorable expectations for debt reduction.

“Fitch” expected that the general government budget surplus of the State of Qatar will reach about 15 percent of the gross domestic product this year, compared to 2.4 percent in 2021, including discretionary investment income on government foreign assets. The International Agency expected a significant increase in oil and gas revenues, under the assumption that the average price of Brent oil would be $100 per barrel.

Lower capital spending and strict control over current spending after 2022 should help maintain budget surpluses, which will be further enhanced by the expansion of gas production from 2025. According to "Fitch", there is a possibility of a decrease in debt compared to GDP to approximately 67 percent in 2022, compared to 81 percent last year on the background of the expansion of nominal GDP due to high oil and gas prices.

Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)