Qatar posted its widest quarterly budget deficit since 2016 as the Iran war choked off most of its liquefied natural gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The 21.2 billion-riyal ($5.8 billion) second-quarter shortfall was almost double the previous quarter’s, and there are few signs that passage through the strait is easing. Still, several Qatari LNG tankers are heading toward the Gulf, which suggests there are expectations that shipments could resume soon, Bloomberg reported.
The country, one of the world’s wealthiest on a per-capita basis, has accumulated sovereign assets that are more than double its GDP. This buffer, along with relatively low government debt, led Fitch Ratings to affirm Qatar’s AA sovereign rating last week, while keeping its outlook “negative” because of the prolonged disruption to exports through Hormuz.