The Qatari Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday that Qatar recorded a surplus of 200 million Qatari Riyals (55 million US dollars) in the first quarter of the current year, benefiting from a rebound in oil prices, which means the government will not need to borrow again to finance the budget. The world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas generated total revenues of 45.2 billion Qatari Riyals in the first three months of the year, while expenditures amounted to 45 billion Qatari Riyals, according to the ministry's statement. Revenues grew by 14.7% compared to the previous quarter but declined by 5% year-on-year. Oil revenues reached 39.7 billion Qatari Riyals and non-oil revenues were 5.5 billion, as per the Ministry of Finance.
In the first quarter, about 15 billion Qatari Riyals, equivalent to 20.8% of the 2021 budget, was spent on major projects, with the value of newly awarded projects amounting to 4.6 billion Qatari Riyals.
Public debt remained stable in the first quarter compared to the end of 2020 at 381.9 billion Qatari Riyals, in the absence of new issuances and repayments. Year-on-year, public debt decreased by 1.9% despite the issuance of 10 billion dollars in bonds last year, due to reasons including early repayment of some debts.
The Qatari Ministry of Finance stated that it does not expect any financing requirements for the 2021 budget based on current oil prices, adding that it intends to fully repay external debt maturities of 4.2 billion dollars.
