DOHA: Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, expects the economy to grow around 5 percent in coming years, the Gulf Arab state's finance minister said on Tuesday.
Qatar's real gross domestic product jumped 14.1 percent in 2011 but the growth rate is expected to more than halve in 2012 partly due to a self-imposed moratorium on further expansion of the gas sector.
"We expect in coming years that growth rates will be around 5 percent," Youssef Kamal said at a conference in the Qatari capital.
Qatar, which pegs its riyal currency to the U.S. dollar, plans to spend over 10 percent of GDP on average on infrastructure in the run-up to hosting the soccer World Cup tournament in 2022. (Reuters)
