Qatari debts total $ 5.7 billion

A semi-official report said that the debts of the state of Qatar amount to $5.7 billion. This amount is expected to increase due to the need for additional money to utilize the northeast gas field.

A report issued by the Arab Institution for the Protection of Investment, a Kuwait-based offshoot of the Arab League with its headquarters in Kuwait, mentioned that the debt represents 79% of the gross national product and its service represents 20% of the national gross product. The report said that the debts will likely increase in the coming years due to the great number of investment projects, on top of which is the northeast gas field.

The report also mentioned that the situation will improve after the year 2000 in spite of the increase of the debts' service as Qatar will start to reap the benifits of its gas projects that it is implementing at the present time.

Qatar started to use the northeast gas field, which was discovered in 1991, in 1994. The field is considered the biggest field in the world as its size is about 5000 km.