Qatar’s current account balance swings back to surplus - The Peninsula Qatar

Qatar’s current account balance swings back to surplus - The Peninsula Qatar:

Qatar’s current account balance recorded a surplus QR23.4bn in 2017, in contrast to a deficit of QR30.1bn in 2016. The recovery in global energy prices enabled the turnaround in the current account balance and restores back the surplus position that Qatar had maintained for nearly two decades prior to 2016. As a percentage of GDP, the surplus stood at 3.8 percent in 2017 as against a deficit of 5.4 percent in 2016, Qatar Central Bank disclosed yesterday.

Within the current account, the trade (goods) account surplus increased to QR133.7bn in 2017, a sharp increase of 44.8 percent from the surplus of QR92.4bn in 2016.

Deficit in the services account continued, but at QR49.9bn showed a significant decline of 16.2 percent from the deficit of QR59.6bn in 2016. Deficit in the income account also recorded a sharp fall, while deficit in the transfers account remained flat at QR58.8bn in 2017 compared to QR58.9bn in the previous year.