Buzz Around World Cup Fizzles to Put a Squeeze on Qatari Economy - Bloomberg

Buzz Around World Cup Fizzles to Put a Squeeze on Qatari Economy - Bloomberg:

Qatar’s economy looks far from top form as it wraps up a flurry of building projects for the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Now that rents are falling and much of stadium construction draws to a close, the toll is starting to wear on the $192 billion economy. Output excluding oil and gas extraction shrank for the first time since records began in 2012, dropping an annual 1.1% in the second quarter, according to Qatar’s Planning and Statistics Authority.

Construction, manufacturing, as well as wholesale and retail, are all in contraction, figures released Tuesday showed. Overall, the economy of the world’s largest exporter of liquefied-natural gas shrank 1.4% from a year earlier.