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Qatari GDP to Grow 8.5 Per Cent on Gas Output

DUBAI — Qatar’s economy will grow faster than any other in the Gulf as gas production increases 80 per cent in the next two years, Standard Chartered Plc said.

The country’s real gross domestic product will expand 8.5 per cent this year, down from 11 per cent last year, Standard Chartered economist Philippe Dauba-Pantanacce said in a report on Tuesday.

Qatar, the second-smallest oil producer in the Opec, has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and Iran. Already the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, Qatar’s government has said it plans to more than double output to 77 million tons a year by 2012 for export to Europe, Asia and the US. It has also developed petrochemical and steel industries.

“Across the economy, some investments, especially those involving foreign partners, are likely to slow down, but all core strategic projects are likely to be realised,” Dauba-Pantanacce said. The International Monetary Fund has an even more optimistic outlook for the Qatari economy. The fund said last week that the economy will grow by 29 per cent this year, the fastest rate in more than a decade.

The economy of Qatar expanded an estimated 16.4 per cent last year, and is expected to “perform at least as strongly in 2009,” according to the IMF.