Boost for private businesses in Qatar
DUBAI: Qatar government unveiled measures to help private sector businesses on Saturday after its economy was hurt by sanctions imposed by Arab states.
Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa AlThani decided to cut rents paid by firms in logistics zones by half next year and in 2019, the official news agency QNA reported.
New investors in the zones will be exempted from paying rents for a year if they obtain building permits by certain deadlines.
Qatar Development Bank, a state-founded body which lends to firms, will postpone receiving loan instalments for up to six months to facilitate industrial sector projects.
Sheikh Abdullah told all ministries and government departments to increase procurement of local products to 100 per cent from 30 per cent, if the products met specifications and the purchases obeyed tender rules.
Qatar’s economy expanded 0.6 per cent from a year earlier in the April-June quarter, its slowest growth since the 2009-2010 global financial crisis, after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties on June 5.
The four states accuse Doha of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.
The sanctions triggered a pullout of deposits by Gulf states from Qatari banks, deepened a slump in real estate prices and caused a plunge of 18 per cent in the stock market. Reuters