Qatar’s State Reserve Fund (SRF) was estimated to be valued at $13.5bn by the end of 2002, according to international ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s. This marks the first time the country’s reserves have been estimated publicly.
In an article appearing in Emerging Qatar 2004, an Oxford Business Group publication released in Doha last weekend, Standard & Poor’s analyst Luc Marchand, while making a researched guesswork about Qatar’s reserves, stressed that the fund enhances the country’s fiscal stability.
"The fund contains an undisclosed amount of foreign assets but we assume that these funds amounted to at least $13.5bn at the end of 2002," Marchand stated.
The government also has a stabilization fund, which now has about $1bn in assets. The authorities are formulating rules for using the fund, the main principle being that it would provide short-term loans to the budget in case of a severe drop in oil prices, Marchand said. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
