Fitch Ratings upgrades Qatar to third-highest on back of gas expansion
Al Jazeera
Revenues from Qatar’s LNG fields will provide budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said.
Fitch Ratings has upgraded Qatar to AA, its third-highest rating, on the back of revenues expected from its expanded gas fields, the agency has said.
Revenues from Qatar’s liquified natural gas (LNG) fields will ensure that the country posts budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said in a release on Wednesday outlining the rating rationale.
The upgrade from AA- “reflects Fitch’s greater confidence that debt to GDP will remain in line with or below the ‘AA’ peer median after falling sharply in recent years,” the agency said.
Fitch expects Qatar’s debt-to-GDP ratio to fall to about 47 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 and 45 percent in 2025, from a peak of 85 percent in 2020.
Qatar is already one of the richest countries in the world and boasts one of the highest ratios of GDP per capita. The added revenue boost will ensure that its external balance sheet will strengthen from an already strong level, Fitch said.
