Financial Times: End of gas boom saps confidence in Qatar

An extraordinary ten-year boom is petering out in Qatar with the state’s large-scale gas-exporting infrastructure having been completed, leaving business confidence at its lowest ebb in years.

Growth in gross domestic product in the small, gas-rich Gulf state, classified as the richest in the world on a per capita basis, has shrunk to six per cent, from 14 per cent last year.

In an economy where the government drives two-thirds of GDP, officials in state-related entities say budgets have been delayed, causing a chain reaction of non-payment to contractors. This has sucked some life out of the economy with business activity having fallen by around 40 per cent in 2012, according to senior executives.  MORE