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Qatar Budget
Oil and gas revenues make up 90 percent of government
revenue, and government spending is the primary means of
injecting these earnings into the economy. Given the small
size
of the local market, government spending generates most of
the
economic activity. Because of increased involvement in the
international economic scene, in April 1989 Qatar's fiscal
year
was changed from the Islamic to the Gregorian calendar.
Large budget surpluses in the 1970s funded major
development
projects, with government spending leveling off and
dropping in
the 1980s, years of more modest oil revenues. After years
of
surpluses, the government had a deficit of nearly QR8
billion in
1983. The government has attempted to keep deficits down
by
reducing the number of new projects and delaying those
under way.
In addition, the fiscal situation of the regime can often
be
gauged by the amount of time required to pay contractors.
Budgets offer only a rough estimate of actual
government
spending. Many significant items, such as military and
amirate
expenses, do not appear. Projections are consistently
conservative, and deficits often are lower than predicted.
In the
1986-87 period, when oil prices plummeted, the government
did not
even announce a budget. Restrained spending in recent
years has
meant frustration for contractors relying on government
contracts, but the policy has also led to ever-shrinking
deficits. The budget continued to show a deficit in the
early
1990s (see
table 22, Appendix).
Overseas assets are estimated at between US$10 and
US$14
billion. These assets have been periodically tapped to
make up
for shortfalls in oil revenues.
Data as of January 1993
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