The Gulf country has seen a significant rise in LNG deals in the past years, with more expected by the end of 2022.

Qatar’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to witness a growth rate of 3.9% as the country’s economy moves towards a steady and hopeful recovery, a new report by International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed.

Despite temporary disruptions posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s GDP recovery rate recorded a substantially higher rate that of the year before, which amounted for about 1.5%.

According to this year’s forecast, consumer prices in the Gulf nation are expected to witness a 3.5% growth in the current year. As for the Middle East and Central Asia region, the IMF stated that, overall, the GDP is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2022.

Consumer prices in Qatar are also expected to rise by 3.5 percent in the current year, the report added. The price of global food, including wheat, is expected to remain high throughout the year and into 2023 in Middle Eastern, North African, Caucasusian and Central Asian counties.

Global financial struggles, reduced tourism due to Covid-19, and secondary demand spillovers (for example, from Europe) are expected to greatly influence growth in the MENA region, especially for oil importers.

However, as for oil exporters, higher fossil fuel prices that have taken place recently may provide some offsetting gains.

Last week, the World Bank’s GCC Economic Update report predicted a 4.9% increase in GDP this year due to its boosted hydrocarbon exports of 10%. The nation is also likely to witness an expansion in its hydrocarbon dependence as its North Field projects begin production.

Said to be the largest multi-billion plan of its kind, the project seeks to boost Qatar’s annual LNG production capacity from 77 million metric tonnes to 126 million tonnes by 2027.

In addition, the economic ramifications created by the Russian-Ukrainian War globally has specifically had a ‘positive’ effect on Qatar’s economy.

“The effects of the war in Ukraine on the commodity markets and of its associated economic sanctions are positive, on balance, for Qatar’s economy, the largest exporter of Liquid Natural Gas in the world,” the World Bank reported.

Ever since the war erupted, the Gulf nation has presented a hopeful presence to the EU as the latter bloc hopes to move away from Russian natural gas, with Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy holding talks with the Gulf nation to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) on a long-term basis.

Over all, IMF has estimated a global economy growth of 3.6% next year, contrary to the 3.8% it forecast in January.

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