Country Economic Forecasts > Qatar

The countrys public infrastructure programme, which is being largely bankrolled by LNG revenues and driven by the Fifa 2022 World Cup and the governments Vision 2030 programme, continues to underpin economic growth. In turn, the influx of expatriates working on the various projects continues to generate strong growth in demand for services. Moreover, the governments fiscal position remains reasonably robust compared to others in the region and public spending is expected to rise over the medium term. Non-hydrocarbon growth is forecast at 9.7% in 2015 and a still rapid 8.5% in 2016. By contrast, however, hydrocarbon sector output will register a small fall this year and only a modest rise in 2016, thanks to capacity constraints in the oil sector and the moratorium on new gas production at the giant North Field. Overall, GDP growth is seen at 4.4% this year, rising to 4.8% next still easily the fastest in the GCC region, though much softer than in earlier years.