Country Report Qatar March 2009

Summary

The emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, will focus on calming economic concerns stemming from the global turmoil and boosting Qatar's prestige through its mediation efforts. Domestic political reform will not be a priority.
Qatar will maintain an independent foreign policy, but it will broadly align itself with the rest of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) with regard to relations with Iran.
Qatar will continue to pursue its economic diversification strategy, although the bulk of foreign investment over the outlook period will be directed into the oil and gas sectors.
Real GDP growth will average 16.3% in 2009-10, as substantial new liquefied natural gas projects come on stream, although nominal GDP growth will be more sluggish owing to falls in oil and gas prices.
Inflation averaged 15.1% in 2008, and we forecast that it will ease to 9.2% in 2009 and 8.1% in 2010, as global commodity prices fall substantially and new housing stock becomes available.
The current account will record a small surplus of US$1.9bn in 2009. This will widen substantially to around US$18.3bn in 2010 as energy prices rise and gas export volumes surge.

A new sponsorship law regulating the residency of foreign workers has been passed, but it is not expected to improve significantly the human rights of workers.
Qatar brokered a preliminary deal between the Sudanese government and a Darfuri rebel group, JEM. However, this was overshadowed by the issuing of a war crimes arrest warrant for the Sudanese president by the ICC.
Plans to create a single financial sector regulator, previously expected to be in place in 2010, have been put on hold owing to concerns about the appropriateness of the changes in light of the global credit crunch.
In a move to support Qatari banks, the government has offered to buy up their investments in domestically listed shares. The move caused a 9% rally in the Doha Securities Market. The purchase could cost up to US$1bn.
Following a report detailing the underdevelopment of SMEs, Qatar has announced plans to set up a QR2bn investment fund to support them.
After four years of rapid increases, rents in Qatar have shown signs of falling as new housing stock comes on stream and as the global economic crisis begins to deflate the bubble in property prices.

Source: Country Report

This report covers the following industry codes:
SIC Code: 65
NAICS Code: 53