Arab boycott hits Qatari economy hard, mining sector most affected

Mohamed Abdelghaffar

For many years, Doha has been supporting terrorist and extremist organizations, as the Qatari regime though it could place itself on the international map this way, and therefore, Arab countries, led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain boycotted the tiny emirate, the matter which affected all life aspects in the country.

Despite the negative economic effects of the boycott by the Arab Anti-Terrorism Quartet (ATQ), the regime in Doha sought to convince its people that everything in the country is under control and that this boycott did not affect the Qatari economy.

As Qatari lies continued, figures and statistics exposed the vulnerability of the Qatari economy, over all its banking, industrial and agricultural sector.

Returning to the official statistics issued by the Qatari government itself, we find major indicators of the decline in the performance of the Qatari economy, especially at the level of factories.

According to the report issued by the Qatari Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, the production of Qatari factories declined in succession during the months of last year 2019, which affected the domestic and foreign investment inside the country.

The report issued in February 2020 indicated that the volume of production inside the Qatari factories decreased by 2.5% during the month of November 2019 compared to the previous month, in addition to a decrease in the value of the standard industrial production of the mining sector by 2%.

The report explained that the manufacturing sector was also affected more, as its production rate fell by 3.8% at the beginning of this year, and monthly production fell by 2.9%.

It pointed out that the refined oil products industry decreased by 2.7%, as well as the beverage industry by 2%.

The report also covered the decline that hit several sectors of the country, indicating a decrease in electricity production by 35%, water by 5.6%, manufacturing industries by 2.5%, and real estate sales by 16.9%.

It is clear, according to official figures issued by various Qatari institutions that the country’s industries in general, and manufacturing and mining in particular, have witnessed sharp declines during the past months, as a result of the Arab boycott and the weakness and fragility of the Qatari economy, contrary to what the regime claims.