Qatar to spend $ 65 bln dollars on infrastructure in next five years

DOHA, Mar 29 (Xinhua): Gas-rich Qatar plans to spend more than 65 billion U.S. dollars on infrastructure in the next five years, the official Qatar News Agency reported yesterday. The spending is part of the Gulf Arab emirate's strategic development plan for 2011-2016 in the fields of energy, water resources and technology, as well as railroad projects in the capital city of Doha. Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, an official at the General Secretariat for Development and Planning, said the plan would be carried out with full transparency and close monitoring. Qatar's central bank forecast the world's top liquified natural gas (LNG) exporter would see 18 percent growth rate this year on stable oil and gas prices. Qatar's economy outperformed its Gulf peers in the past years by maintaining double-digit growth rate. The country's spending plans have been lavish especially after the country won the host for the 2022 World Cup.