Qatar on December 23rd Sunday lifted its forecasts for economic growth and inflation next year, saying that a decline in oil and gas output was now expected to be less than originally thought.
The General Secretariat for Development Planning said that gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, is now forecast to expand 4.8% in 2013, instead of the 4.5% which authorities predicted in June this year. GDP is estimated to grow 6.3% in 2012.
The secretariat in a statement said that consumer price inflation is now projected to rise to 3.5% in 2013 from 2% this year. In June, it had predicted 2013 inflation of only 2.5%.
The government body said that the world’s biggest LNG exporter has raised its forecasts for economic growth this year and in 2013 as the non energy industries expand. Qatar’s economic expansion is based on robust growth in the non oil and gas industries.
The government added that the government forecasts 9.3% growth in those industries this year, and 9.6% in 2013. The government revised its 2012 nominal GDP to 14.7% from 11.2%. Qatar plans to spend USD 138 billion on infrastructure from 2011 to 2016. The nation’s 2012 fiscal surplus is estimated at 7.9% of GDP and 5.3% of GDP in 2013.
