(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 16, 2004 (FIELS) -- File picture shows an Aerial view of the Balal offshore oil platform in the Gulf waters, in the Gulf on the edge of Qatar's territorial waters on May 16, 2004. Under threat of US sanctions, European oil firms Total, Shell, Statoil and Eni have pledged to stop investing in Iran in what amounts to a "significant setback" to Tehran, a US official said September 30, 2010. AFP PHOTO/Behrouz MEHRI - OPEC members and other oil-producing countries convene in Vienna this week December 2018 to discuss cutting their output targets, torn between plunging oil prices and pressure from the United States to keep prices low. Under the watchful eye of major producers such as Saudia Arabia and Russia, delegates from both the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and around 10 other non-OPEC members -- which together account for more than half of total global output -- will first hold preparatory meetings earlier in the week and then full plenary sessions on Thursday and Friday. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 16, 2004 (FIELS) -- File picture shows an Aerial view of the Balal offshore oil platform in the Gulf waters, in the Gulf on the edge of Qatar's territorial waters on May 16, 2004. Under threat of US sanctions, European oil firms Total, Shell, Statoil and Eni have pledged to stop investing in Iran in what amounts to a "significant setback" to Tehran, a US official said September 30, 2010. AFP PHOTO/Behrouz MEHRI - OPEC members and other oil-producing countries convene in Vienna this week December 2018 to discuss cutting their output targets, torn between plunging oil prices and pressure from the United States to keep prices low. Under the watchful eye of major producers such as Saudia Arabia and Russia, delegates from both the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and around 10 other non-OPEC members -- which together account for more than half of total global output -- will first hold preparatory meetings earlier in the week and then full plenary sessions on Thursday and Friday. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
A picture taken on December 6, 2018, shows Abdullah al-Fehani (R), al-Rayyan Project Manager at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, delivering a speech at the stadium in the Qatari capital Doha. (Photo by Anne LEVASSEUR / AFP)Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas, will run its first budget surplus in three years in 2019 due to higher energy prices, a government statement said Thursday.
The surplus will reach 4.3 billion Qatari riyals ($1.2bn, 1 billion euros) because of an expected sustained rise in prices.
The statement also said Qatar would delay plans to introduce a value-added tax (VAT), initially anticipated for this year.
But it revealed Doha would introduce a levy on “health-damaging goods” such as sugary drinks and tobacco next year.
“The surplus is a result of higher energy prices in international markets along with increasing non-oil reserves,” the statement said.
“The 2019 budget assumes an average oil price of $55/barrel, compared with $45/barrel in the 2018 budget.”
Qatar announced earlier this month that it was withdrawing from OPEC, and said its future was reliant on its huge gas reserves.
It shares the world’s largest natural gas field with Iran.
Spending is also set to increase, the statement said, as the country prepares to host the 2022 football World Cup.
Expenditure will rise almost two percent in 2019 to 206.7 billion Qatari riyals.
The new “selective tax” on unhealthy goods includes “a 100% tax on tobacco and its products and energy drinks, and a 50% tax on sugary drinks,” the statement said.
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