DOHA: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has announced that the State of Qatar's budget for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 achieved a surplus of QR0.9 billion.
MoF posted on the X platform saying that the surplus will be directed to reducing public debt and thus there is no cash surplus.
The ministry revealed that total revenues in Q4 amounted to about QR48.7 billion, a 12.5% decrease, compared to the same quarter of 2023, noting that these revenues were generated from oil and gas sector (QR42.09 billion), and non-oil sector (QR6.59 billion).
It indicated that total expenditures in Q4 amounted to about QR47.8 billion, a 12% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
These expenditures were distributed as follows: QR17.69 billion for salaries and wages, QR18.49 billion for current expenditures, while secondary capital expenditures amounted to QR1.32 billion , and major capital expenditures amounted to QR10.24 billion.
The Ministry's data showed that the actual average price of oil during the mentioned quarter amounted to $73.9 per barrel, which is higher than the estimated price in Qatar's 2024 budget, which is $60 dollars per barrel.
The ministry also revealed that tenders and auctions in government agencies during the Q4 of 2024 reached a total of QR6.4 billion, of which QR4.8 billion were awarded to local companies, and QR1.5 billion to foreign companies, while the total number of the awarded tenders, practices and direct agreements reached 900 jobs. The top four sectors according to the sectoral index Q4 were Municipality and Environment, Health, Energy, and General Secretariat.
Compared to the same quarter of 2023, the ministry's data showed a 1 percent decrease in the number of businesses, a 25.58 percent decrease in businesses value, a 36.84 percent decrease in value of contracts with local companies, and a 50 percent increase in value of contracts with foreign companies.
On December 12, Minister of Finance HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari revealed some important indicators for the Qatari economy during 2024, saying that the country's GDP achieved a 1.7 percent growth during 2024, where non-hydrocarbon output grew by 1.9 percent, while hydrocarbon output grew by 1.4 percent.