Qatar year in review: isolation casts a shadow over economic prospects for 2018 - The National

Qatar year in review: isolation casts a shadow over economic prospects for 2018 - The National:

"The diplomatic crisis in the Arabian Gulf region that has affected Qatar’s economy shows no signs of abating and any escalation in the issue between the gas-rich country and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt means Doha will have to dig deep into its reserves to support its economy. “The economy is likely to rely increasingly on state funding for growth, reversing a funding model in the past couple of years, where non-resident [bank] deposits were the key source of funding,” the investment bank EFG-Hermes said in a research note. A forecast by BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Ratings, of an oversupply in the liquefied natural gas market next year that could force the spot prices of LNG down significantly does not bode well for the economic and fiscal prospects of Qatar. The country is the world’s biggest LNG exporter and revenues from the sale of hydrocarbons account for about 90 per cent of its income."



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