DUBAI: Qatar’s government spending rose 2.2 percent to a record QR178.2bn ($48.9bn) in its last fiscal year, official data showed.
Total state spending came in slightly below the initial plan of QR178.6bn for the fiscal year that ended in March, finance ministry data released by the central bank showed. Development expenditure was QR49.3bn.
Qatar spent a record QR34.1bn on public sector wages in 2012/13, nearly 15 percent more than in the previous year, the data showed.
But revenue jumped 24.7 percent to a record QR277.4bn. Receipts from oil and gas sales accounted for roughly 62 percent of state income in 2012/13, down from 70 percent in the previous year because of a rise in investment returns and other revenue. Qatar is one of the world’s most active sovereign investors in global markets.
The government’s budget surplus therefore more than doubled to a record QR99.2bn last fiscal year, or 14.2 percent of gross domestic product.
The government plans to raise spending to QR210.6bn in the current fiscal year as it steps up the infrastructure building programme.
Spanish banks report record bad loans in June
MADRID: The level of bad loans weighing on Spain’s banks hit a new record in June, official figures showed yesterday, a sign of persistent weakness in the bailed-out sector.
Doubtful loans rose to ¤176.42bn ($235.14bn), or 11.61 percent of total loans, some ¤6bn more than in May, the Bank of Spain said. The June figure topped a previous record high ratio recorded for November 2012, which was 11.37 percent, according to adjusted figures from the bank.
Last year, the euro zone agreed to finance a rescue of Spain’s banks, swamped in bad loans since a property bubble imploded in 2008 plunging the country into a double-dip recession.
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