Qatar’s economy is now incurring grave losses, as we noted last week. The trade exchanges have declined, prices of goods have gone up due to a lack of supplies, and its airline has been affected as is the financial sector.
An economy does not recognise any overconfidence because markets are governed by rules and objective circumstances that need to be addressed in a pragmatic manner that expresses one’s interests before anything else. These interests, however, are related to Qatar’s relationship with its sister Gulf countries and not to the Governance of the Jurist (Wilayat Al Faqih) — which is aspiring for sectarian dominance — and neither to a regional power such as Turkey.
As we can see, Qatar’s economic conditions seem to be gloomy in spite of all official reassurances and every passing day holds more losses and complications that would be too difficult to address. Geography has unchangeable constants that it is tough to ignore. And Qatar is a Gulf constituent before anything else, but its fraternal people have been afflicted with an administration that channelled a large part of its fortune to supporting terrorist organisations, abusing its brothers in the GCC states, backing acts of sabotage as evidenced by many a proof over the course of recent years.
As the data suggest, Qatar’s losses will grow more and more. The tourism sector has become a key constituent of the economy but will now practically collapse. Tourists coming from the GCC — especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE — represent 50 per cent of the overall, which reached 2.5 million last year and helped by a 25 per cent increase in the number of Saudi tourists. These are as per the numbers with Qatar Tourism Authority.
As a result, the numbers of Gulf arrivals, which exceeded a million, will hit rock bottom as visitors from Kuwait and Oman represent an insignificant portion. This means a great decline in the number of passengers using Qatari airline and hotels as well as a sharp drop in goods and services demand, disadvantaging other important sectors such as the services.
In the same context, Qatari airlines cancelled more than 1,500 flights in the first three days of the boycott and will have to continue to do the same, incurring great losses and affecting their ability to fulfil financial obligations and deepening the financial sector’s difficulties, which has been instrumental in the purchase of aircraft worth billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, massive transfer of funds have been made from Qatar in a proactive step to what the economic and security developments may lead to. Consequently, the Qatar central bank requested all financial and banking institutions to keep it posted for updates with regard to the volume of remittances, which were conducted not only by organisations and institutions but also by individuals.
Economic sectors are a coherent series that cannot be torn apart. If a key sector is disadvantaged, the rest would definitively be affected by the repercussions, as we have seen at the beginning of the global financial crisis which first hit the US real estate and then spilt over into other sectors.
The Gulf states never wished to see what is going on and were left with no option but cut ties. However, Qatar has cut out all the ropes of friendship and forgiveness embraced by the GCC. Instead, it contributed to damaging Arab economies through financing terrorist groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian and Bahraini economies, for instance, suffered from acts of sabotage, resulting from Qatar’s financing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society and Hizb Allah in Bahrain.
Everybody wishes for good and development of the Qataris, but this is on the condition that the state of Qatar will not seek to ruin other countries’ interests, and especially if they share a regional assembly that is supposed to be defended by everyone and not to abuse any of its members in any way.
