Qatar’s state news agency cited the finance ministry. In the country’s first quarter of 2023, we had a budget surplus of 19.7 billion Qatari riyals ($5.4 billion).
Qatar records budget surplus: According to the Qatar News Agency’s report, the first quarter’s total income amounted to 68.6 billion riyals, with 63.4 billion riyals derived from oil and gas and 5.2 billion riyals from non-oil sources.
The Gulf nation, which ranks among the top exporters of liquefied natural gas, had anticipated a 29 billion riyal budget surplus for 2023.
The total average oil price in the first quarter of this year, which amounted to $82.2 per barrel, generated more revenue, surpassing Qatar’s budget projection of $65 per barrel for oil prices.
In Q1, spending totaled 48.9 billion riyals.
Additionally, Qatar anticipates using the budget surplus to pay off its public debt, increase central bank reserves, and expand the capital of the state sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.
However, The demand for gas from Europe has increased in Qatar as it seeks to replace the nearly 40% of the continent’s previous supplies from Russia via pipeline. Despite the escalating competition for LNG, Asia has acquired gas from Qatar’s major production expansion project.