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Dubai: Qatar said yesterday its economy could grow 15.5 per cent at current prices this year, accelerating from 2007 as it expands its oil and gas sector and ploughs money into infrastructure, construction and finance.
Gross domestic product (GDP) of the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) grew 12.5 per cent in 2007, its slowest pace in five years, as the value of oil and gas output slowed, the Qatar Statistics Authority said on its Web site.
Qatar's nominal GDP had surged more than 30 per cent in each of 2004, 2005 and 2006 as the Gulf Arab state that holds the world's third-biggest natural gas reserves boosted output.
The mining and quarrying sector, which includes oil and gas, grew 9.3 per cent in 2007, down from 28.7 per cent in 2006 and 46.3 per cent in 2005, the authority said.
It should expand another 10.9 per cent this year as Qatar moves toward boosting total LNG production to 77 million tonnes per year by 2010, up from 31 million tonnes now. So far this quarter, the average price of benchmark US oil is $97.59, compared with $95.98 on December 31.
Like other states in the world's biggest oil-exporting region, Qatar has been ploughing windfall oil and gas revenues into real estate, infrastructure and financial services to diversify its economy.
Qatar's construction sector grew 22.04 per cent in 2007 and will probably expand another 24.22 per cent this year, while the electricity and water sector will grow 31.37 per cent in 2008 versus 25.68 per cent a year earlier, the authority said.
Financial services should jump 27.8 per cent this year, having expanded 23.02 per cent last year, it added.
Joint wealth fund
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund said yesterday it agreed with Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (Ipic) to set up a $2 billion fund to finance acquistions in oil, petrochemicals and other industries. Ipic managing director Khadem al-Qubaisi said on Tuesday each group would initially invest $1 billion in the fund, and target energy and other industries starting from about September.
"Both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are focused on the long term growth of our states ... leveraging our combined investment expertise, we will target attractive opportunities on a global basis," Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Executive Board Member Hussain Al Abdullah said in yesterday's statement.
The QIA last year set up two $1 billion funds, one with Dubai Group -owned by the ruler of Dubai - and another with the Indonesian government. The QIA manages assets worth about $60 billion, according to Standard Chartered.
IPIC is an investment vehicle for the government of Abu Dhabi, which controls more than 90 per cent of the United Arab Emirates' oil reserves.
The joint fund will seek opportunities where it can make money and add value, Qubaisi said, without being more specific.
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