The Peninsula Highlights Qatars Growing Exports

Doha, July 03 (QNA) - Qatari English daily The Peninsula highlighted Saturday the growing export sector in the State of Qatar, noting that trade surplus has been rising consistently over the past few months, demonstrating the strength of countrys economy. The paper said that the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority revealed that Qatars foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR16.6bn, an increase of about QR11.3 billion or 211.4%, compared to May 2020. The surplus increased by nearly QR3.8 billion or 29.9%, compared to April 2021. In May 2021, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR24.9 billion, showing an increase of 87.8% compared to May 2020. On other hand, the imports of goods in May 2021 amounted to around QR8.3 billion, showing an increase of 4.7% compared to May 2020, the paper added. The Peninsula underlined that the positive growth indicates that the Qatari economy has witnessed a remarkable recovery from the negative impacts of COVID-19 pandemic which has spread throughout the world and prompted most countries to impose strict preventive measures including partial or entire closure. The rising trend in the trade surplus has also been witnessed in the past months. Qatars foreign merchandise trade balance showed a surplus of QR12.8 billion, reflecting an increase of about QR8.4 billion or 194.1% compared to April 2020. In April 2021, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR21 billion, showing an increase of 77.1% compared to April 2020, the paper noted. According to the figures released by the Qatar Chamber, the total volume of private sector exports during the first quarter of 2021 (from January to March) reached QR5.08 billion, it added. The continuous increase in trade surplus and exports has showed the ability of Qatars economy to overcome the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Peninsula concluded. (QNA)