Oil prices lead Qatar to prioritize existing projects

Qatar is set to award contracts worth more than $220 billion over the next 10 years, prioritizing existing development projects in light of dwindling oil prices. The investment program will focus extensively on the infrastructure, education and health sectors. A report by U.S.-based credit rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) about Qatar, cited by local Qatari newspaper The Peninsula, said: "We expect the majority of the projects to be completed ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which Qatar is hosting." Qatar's program will aim for medium-term real economic growth, despite [the] contribution to [the] deterioration in fiscal and external balances, exacerbated by [the] large fall in oil prices," S&P continued. "The stable outlook reflects our view that Qatar's economy will remain resilient, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, although we anticipate continued institutional weaknesses and limited monetary flexibility over the next two years." S&P classified Qatar as a wealthy economy, and said it estimates the country's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at $81,000 this year, the report added.