Doha, November 05 Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) has released a provisional estimate of Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2009, measured in current prices, showing 4.3 percent decrease as compared to that of the first quarter of this year and 29.7 per cent to that of the second quarter of 2008.
A QSA statement said that the main reason for this decrease was the contractionary impacts of the international financial crisis in major export markets and a substantial effect on demand for Qatar s hydro-carbon related exports. Steep falls in hydrocarbons prices have also dented current price estimates of GDP.
The statement pointed out that the average of oil prices increased from $44 to $60 while Qatar’s production of oil remains as it is.
The manufacturing sector was also down by 4.7 percent as a result of financial crisis in 2008, whereas the electricity and water supply sector grew in the second quarter of 2009 reflecting increased electricity and water supply, the statement said, adding that major construction projects kept the construction sector s growth up recording a 2.6 percent increase.
It is worth mentioning that the provisional estimate of Qatar s gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2009, measured in current prices, was QR 70.9 billion, down 17.5 percent from the revised estimate of QR 85.9 billion for the first quarter of 2008.