	qatar unveils budget for fiscal the gulf oil state of qatar recovering slightly from last year s decline in world oil prices announced its first budget since early and projected a deficit of billion riyals the deficit compared with a shortfall of billion riyals in the last published budget for in a statement outlining the budget for the fiscal year beginning today finance and petroleum minister sheikh abdul aziz bin khalifa al thani said the government expected to spend billion riyals in the period projected expenditure in the budget had been billion riyals sheikh abdul aziz said government revenue would be about billion riyals down by about pct on the projected revenue of billion the government failed to publish a budget due to uncertainty surrounding oil revenues sheikh abdul aziz said that during that year the government decided to limit recurrent expenditure each month to one twelfth of the previous fiscal year s allocations minus pct he urged heads of government departments and public institutions to help the government rationalise expenditure he did not say how the budget shortfall would be covered sheikh abdul aziz said plans to limit expenditure in had been taken in order to relieve the burden placed on the country s foreign reserves he added in some billion riyals had been allocated for major projects including housing and public buildings social services health education transport and communications electricity and water industry and agriculture no figure was revealed for expenditure on defence and security there was also no projection for oil revenue qatar an opec member has an output ceiling of barrels per day sheikh abdul aziz said our expectations of positive signs regarding oil price trends foremost among them opec s determination to shoulder its responsibilites and protect its wealth have helped us make reasonable estimates for the coming year s revenue on the basis of our assigned quota reuter 
