DOHA —
Qatar foresees a nearly 5 percent rise in
government expenditures next year due to its hosting of the
2022 World Cup,
budget estimates released Tuesday show.
اضافة اعلان
The emirate's planned expenses for 2022 rose by 4.9 percent
from last year to 204.3 billion riyals ($55.7 billion), Finance Minister Ali
bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari said, according to the official Qatar News Agency.
This was "mainly due to the temporary increase in
operational expenses related to the World Cup hosting activities, which include
security and operating costs for all related events to the
FIFA World Cup Qatar
2022," the minister said.
Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural
gas, conservatively projects total revenue of 196 billion riyals, based on an
average oil price of $55 a barrel, Kuwari said.
That leaves an expected deficit of 8.3 billion riyals, which
the finance ministry would work to cover "through available cash balances
and issue of local and foreign debt instruments if the need arises," he
said.
A year ago the government projected its 2020 budget surplus
of 500 million riyals would be wiped out in 2021 after energy prices fell due
to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Kuwari said there had been a "remarkable recovery in
global energy prices".
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