ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 3 Business | 17 Sport | 27 The State of the QFC Authority Japan and US got Internet report names Yousuf their Women’s ranked Qatar No. Al Jaida as Chief World Cup matches 8 in global top 10. Executive Officer. off to strong starts. WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2015 • 23 Shaaban 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6457 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Emir receives Omani minister Gulf workers Woqod to set up 15 sent $100bn home last year KUWAIT CITY,: Foreigners portable fuel stations working in the Gulf sent more than $100bn in remittances to their home countries last year, Bid to address shortage of facilities in Doha, suburbs an economic report showed yesterday. DOHA: Woqod (Qatar Fuel), Woqod has already requested hours are a problem, and this is The figure was twice as high as local distributor of petroleum the Ministry of Municipality and particularly true of areas in and remittances in 2010, an indica- products, will soon be setting Urban Planning to allot it plots of outside of Doha that are always tion of strong growth, the head up 15 portable petrol stations land temporarily so it can install crowded with vehicles, the daily of economic research at Kuwait at different locations in and the make-shift filling stations said quoting the source. Financial Centre (Markaz), around Doha to help vehicles and hopes to get the allotment “That’s the reason why we have Raghu Mandagoathur, said in the access fuel easily. soon. come up with this temporary yet report. Woqod has already bought the “Woqod is actively coordinat- effective solution,” the source The remittances are esti- necessary paraphernalia, includ- ing with the civic ministry for said. mated at 6.2 percent of the ing the fuel tanks, to set up the plot allotment,” Al Sharq quoted Earlier this year, when a petrol combined GDP of the six GCC portable fuel stations. They will a Woqod source as saying. station in Al Shamal had closed states of $1.6 trillion, the report be installed as temporary filling The portable fuel stations that down, Woqod sent a mobile pet- said, citing IMF and World Bank stations in highly crowded places. normally have a capacity of 4,000 rol station there and it came in figures. The locations have been identi- to 10,000 gallons of fuel storage handy for automobile users in the In comparison, foreigners in fied and they are in some of the are safe, both environmentally area. the United States and Britain most crowded places in Doha and and from the viewpoint of users’ Woqod also sent mobile fuel sent home just 0.7 percent and in the sprawling suburbs. safety and security. stations to the Sealine area dur- 0.8 percent of GDP, respectively, The portable stations will con- They are easy-to-install as it ing weekends due to crowding. it said. tinue to operate as long as perma- takes barely a few hours to fix The company has been building Saudi Arabia topped the list nent petrol stations are not built them and make them operational. modern petrol stations in differ- with its estimated $10m expats by Woqod in different places to If the need be, they can also be ent parts of the country to help sending home $44bn, followed by help ease their shortages. shifted to another location. Also, ease the present shortages. UAE with $29bn. The shortages, as is known, are only small space is needed to At least eight of the many new Remittances from Kuwait and being caused as the population of install a makeshift fuel station petrol stations that are slated to Qatar were $12bn and $9.5bn, both, the people and vehicles, has so one can be easily deployed in be operational this very year are respectively, while smaller trans- been rising and many existing pet- a crowded area. already complete and ready for Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received Omani Minister fers were made out of Oman and rol stations have been demolished Serpentine queues at petrol commissioning. Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah at Al Bahr Bahrain, the report said. for renovation and expansion. stations especially during peak THE PENINSULA Palace yesterday. They reviewed bilateral relations and ways of enhanc- AFP ing them. Qatar acquires Qatar GDP to rise to 7.3pc; budget deficit seen next year $1.19bn HK DOHA: Qatar’s real GDP inflation, is expected to remain of the index, which has been the balance are estimated at $86.4 per and increased volatility of oil growth in 2015 is projected to strong in 2015 and is set to carry principal driver of consumer price barrel for 2016 and $88.0 for 2017. prices, which widens the margins Electric stake rise to 7.3 percent, driven by a through to 2016 and 2017, before it inflation in the past two years. “This estimate assumes that of uncertainty round the central strong non-hydrocarbon sec- moderates. The outlook foresees However, a modest pickup in the growth of current government forecasts. Over the projection HONG KONG: Qatar tor and the boost to upstream that the country’s overall fiscal inflation is expected in 2016 and spending continues to move on horizon, the non-hydrocarbon Investment Authority has hydrocarbon product from balance will register its first defi- 2017, if dollar appreciation loses to a lower trajectory than in the sector will continue to account for bought an aggregate stake of Barzan gas project. Service cit in 15 years, in 2016. momentum. recent past; there are effective most of the economy’s expansion”, 19.9 percent in HK Electric sector will be the largest con- Consumer price inflation is Qatar’s fiscal surplus is cost reductions in the hydrocar- H E Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem Al Investments Ltd from billion- tributor to growth, followed by expected to moderate in 2015 expected to narrow considerably bon sector; and additional non-oil Nabit, Ministry of Development aire Li Ka-shing’s firms for construction, according to a before edging up in 2016 and 2017. in 2015 to 1.4 percent of nominal and gas revenues accrue to budget. Planning and Statistics, said. HK$9.25bn ($1.19bn), as the glo- report released by the Ministry Annual inflation is expected to GDP, down from 12.3 percent in However, deficit still appears, as The main downside risk to the bal investor seeks investment of Development Planning and average two percent in 2015, down 2014. In 2016, it is foreseen that a consequence of an anticipated outlook is the possibility that oil opportunities in Asia. Statistics (MDPS) yesterday. from 3.3 percent in 2014. Partially, the overall fiscal balance will reg- squeeze on hydrocarbon-linked prices will not track higher in Power Assets Holdings Ltd said The “Qatar Economic Outlook the subdued inflation outlook ister its first deficit in 15 years, revenue”, the document noted. 2016 and 2017, as the forecast it sold a stake worth HK$7.68bn 2015-2017” noted the country’s is due to a lower weight of the an estimated 4.9 percent of GDP. “The assessment has been made assume, he added. ($990.79m) in HK Electric to real GDP or GDP adjusted by housing and utilities component Breakeven oil prices for the fiscal at a time of sharp adjustments THE PENINSULA Qatar Investment Authority, as the Hong Kong power utility eyes new acquisitions in the global energy industry. Attack on Egyptian lawyer Power Assets said its holding in HK Electric fell to 33.37 percent after it sold a 16.53 percent stake, $675,000 prizes for remaining as the controlling shareholder of the power supplier. Together with a stake of 3.37 poems on Prophet percent bought from Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, Qatar’s sovereign wealth DOHA: Katara is set to launch Explaining the terms and fund holds a stake of 19.9 percent the ‘Katara Prize for Prophet’s conditions of the Prize, Khalid in HK Electric, Power Assets said Poets’, one of the biggest prizes Abdulrahim Al Sayyed, General in a separate statement. of its kind, under the slogan Supervisor of the Prize said Power Assets said the latest “Best poems in praise of the the topic of the poem should sale was consistent with its intent Prophet.’ be about ‘Praising the Prophet of maintaining its stake in HK The Prize will be launched on Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Electric at between 30 percent Monday evening at the Katara Him)’ written in Arabic language and 49.9 percent. “We expect this Opera Theatre in the pres- and follows the classical style of new partnership to be of potential ence of a number of officials, Arab poetry. significant benefit to our group,” public figures and interested Participation is open to poets said chairman Canning Fok, add- individuals. from different parts of the world ing the net proceeds from the deal Katara General Manager Dr between ages 20 to 50, who should would further strengthen Power Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said submit the poem together with Assets’ liquidity position. Relatives of victims killed in a riot following a football match in Port Said in February 2012, clash with defence the Prize is a first-of-its-kind reli- his CV and publications. REUTERS lawyer (left) outside the courthouse in Cairo yesterday. A court yesterday confirmed the death sentences of gious and cultural activity organ- The poem should not be less 11 men for their part in the football-related violence.