Qatar to 'suffer less than UAE' in 2009

who.am.i
By who.am.i

Qatar will fare better than the UAE when the global economic crisis sweeps through the region in 2009, Standard Chartered said in a report released on Sunday.

Economic growth in Qatar was expected to be "more sluggish" next year than in 2008, but was likely to be helped by "comfortable surpluses" from heavy investments in gas production, the bank said.

Standard Chartered said Qatar was expected to have the strongest GCC current account surplus, above 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

"Hydrocarbon projects coming on-stream will result in sustained growth," Standard Chartered senior economist Philippe Dauba-Pantanacce said in the report.

Dauba-Pantanacce said while a real estate price correction in Qatar was likely, fundamental growth drivers should put a floor under this.

The bank also predicted inflation in Qatar would ease to 10 percent in 2009, although it warned fast growth could fuel inflation, which hit a high of close to 15 percent this year.

Source: Arabian Business

By Arien• 5 Jan 2009 18:49
Arien

Jackmohan..DUBAI???

How about the 74 billion dolar payout??? how about the 120 billion dollar which abudhabi pumped and demanded a payback plan within next six months???

______________________________________________

Every society is judged by how

it treats it's least fortunates.

By Arien• 5 Jan 2009 18:47
Arien

tell me something about the inflation and cost of living. huh .. wher is it heading??..

______________________________________________

Every society is judged by how

it treats it's least fortunates.

By gypsy_coy• 5 Jan 2009 18:04
gypsy_coy

let's see how it goes...hope 4 d best :-)

By qatarcogs• 5 Jan 2009 17:58
Rating: 4/5
qatarcogs

In 5 years, the doom sayers will be wishing they invested in this country....there is only one way this place can go ecomomically, and it's definately not backwards. Look around, open your eyes. The current world economic situation and oil prices are only a blip....get on now and enjoy the ride.

By heero_yuy2• 1 Jan 2009 19:27
heero_yuy2

You shocked me with your statement! LOL

"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

By jauntie• 1 Jan 2009 18:33
Rating: 2/5
jauntie

Dubai has oil

Oil is going down in price.

Gas is doing OK

I think what I mean is that Qatar isn't reliant on it's oil reserves and Dubai is. The fall in the price of oil will dictate what happens in construction (for example) in Dubai over the coming few months. The purse will be smaller.

By Living fun• 1 Jan 2009 18:23
Living fun

It is very comforting to know that Qatar will survive this economic depression(recession) which has spread around the world.Aren't we lucky to be here?

It is always MAN proposes and GOD disposes!!!!!

By anonymous• 30 Dec 2008 13:21
anonymous

Let us wait and see. As Jackmohan said, Dubai will be Torch - Bearer of the GCC....Construction in Qatar is very slow and need more improvment with high professionals.

By anonymous• 30 Dec 2008 11:28
Rating: 4/5
anonymous

If there is any country in the GCC thats going to fare better...there none other than Dubai...which has a more rounded economy eg:

Oil (6%) Real Estate and Construction (22.6%),Trade (16%), entrepôt (15%) and financial services (11%)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai

add to that tourism.

Some of Dubai's biggest projects were

1. Dubai Mall opened on 4 Nov 2008 located at the foot of Burj Dubai.

2. Burj Dubai Sept 2009.

3. Dubai Metro 2009

4. Dubai Sports City early 2009

5. Dubai Media City

6. Dubai Studio City

7. Dubai Marina

Almost all are complete or will be complete by the end of 2009.

Now compare this to Qatar where the construction boom has just the unoccupied Medical City, Sports City & Education City, and some 30 odd towers at corniche to show!!!

Note : Because of the recession none of the other GCC will be able to afford anything like the Metro or the Burj.

Dubai will continue to be the Torch-Bearer of the GCC even 20 yrs from now.

By anonymous• 23 Dec 2008 22:49
anonymous

i hope qatar suffers dubai people are much better these badoo of qatar are going out of control this money has gone to there head...

By shyam khatri• 23 Dec 2008 22:03
shyam khatri

I don't meant all this because i am doing work here but the way Qatar going is very good and i wish for more good and good.

By Time2architecT• 23 Dec 2008 15:22
Time2architecT

hope so ,,, but who knows ?

By yano_08• 22 Dec 2008 16:46
yano_08

the fall always start at the HEAD block... In the West, it started with US then goes thru europe.

Now the middle east part of the fall had began and where else to start but the leader of them all.. UAE/DUBAI.

Who's saying Qatar will not be spared? Nobody i guess, but we can always do some prayers and wishful thinking.

For the better year ahead of Us ALL. Best Wishes :-)

By heero_yuy2• 21 Dec 2008 20:51
heero_yuy2

"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

By jesus• 21 Dec 2008 15:41
Rating: 3/5
jesus

Another "madoff" bullshit. They should emulate the french revolution i.e. hang all this executives and call it the financial revolution. The oil price is at U$ 33 a barrel (see the benefit of stopping short sellers) and all these GCC countries were deluded by the high prices and started projects not expecting ANYTHING close to what the world is experiencing. Expect lots of projects to be downsized and some operations to halted (unnecessary ones that are meant to propel GCC to a world class status).

As for relying on Gas check out this story on gulf times (12/12/2008):

LNG carriers idling on project delays in Qatar; rates decline

Singapore: The world’s biggest liquefied natural gas tankers are idling because delays at projects in Qatar, including that of Exxon Mobil Corp, have pushed down freight rates.

South Korean shipyards led by Samsung Heavy Industries Co have delivered to Qatar two Q-Max and 13 Q-Flex ships, which carry as much as 80% more fuel than a typical vessel, Russell Barling, a spokesman for Lloyd’s Register, which certifies ships, said in an e-mail on Friday.

Qatar, the world’s largest LNG producer, ordered 45 of the tankers to transport cargoes from the world’s biggest LNG production lines, which have been delayed on equipment and labour shortages.

Few terminals are able to accommodate the larger vessels, and project delays mean they have no regular cargoes to carry.

Exxon Mobil has taken delivery of two new Q-Max LNG ships, Mozah and the Umm Slal, energy consultant PanEurasian Enterprises said by e-mail on Thursday.

Charter rates for ships transporting spot shipments have almost halved to about $42,000 a day as the global recession cuts demand for spot cargoes in Asia, said Navin Thakur, an LNG shipping analyst at Drewry Maritime Services.

Qatar is using the large LNG carriers for spot supplies.

Qatar and Exxon may find it profitable to store the gas at current $9 per million Btu prices and sell it forward in the UK at 2009/10 December future of about $10.50, the report said.

“Given the present cost of money, it’s not a boon, but it would mitigate the cost of having the ships sit idle,” the Raleigh, North Carolina-based energy consultant said in the note.

The Q-Max tankers may cost as much as $300mn each and carry a unit to capture and liquefy gases that escape from the storage tanks during the journey. On older models, about 0.14% of the LNG escapes every day in gaseous form because of vibrations. “Since both ships are equipped with reliquefaction equipment, it might make sense to use them for floating storage,” the note said.

The vessels carry more than 200,000 cu m each, against 145,000 on standard tankers. They are as long as 345m (1,132ft), the length of about three football fields, or 20% more than a typical carrier.

Two production lines, known as Train 4 and 5 at Qatargas, will be ready by June to December next year, Qatargas Operating Co chief executive officer Faisal al-Suwaidi said on October 29. The lines will each produce 7.8mn metric tonnes a year. The trains may start shipments next year.

The Q-Max ships are powered by twin propellers instead of the single propeller on existing models. At import and export facilities, the LNG vessels need a larger turning radius, longer berth and bigger storage and loading facilities, Rob Tustin, technical manager at Lloyd’s Register Asia, said on November 26. – Bloomberg

By eu61• 21 Dec 2008 14:43
Rating: 4/5
eu61

MD, a prediction is just this: only a prediction.

Maybe its accurate, maybe it is just usefull for group therapy...

You can take it, or leave it, its up to you.

Same in all countries, all newspapers, next year we will check the accuracy level of each one.

War looking for peace,

is like fornication looking for virginity.

By sweet.angel• 21 Dec 2008 14:35
sweet.angel

Hmm well we will all see next year. Inshallah

By Pieman• 21 Dec 2008 14:02
Pieman

As experts they will surely know, just like they all predicted the current crisis

just eat another pie

By anonymous• 21 Dec 2008 14:00
anonymous

"will", "expected","likely", "predicted", "would", "could". I like these words.

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