DUBAI- Qatar's economy contracted by 6.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, government statistics showed on Wednesday, as the coronavirus outbreak closed businesses and reduced activity.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) also contracted by 6.4% in the second quarter compared to the first, based on constant prices, data from Qatar's Planning and Statistics Authority showed.
Transportation and storage slumped nearly 40% year-on-year, accommodation and food service activities fell 38.7% and wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair dropped just over 30%. The manufacturing sector fell 11.3%, the data showed.
Qatar, the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas, is trying to diversify its economy by boosting tourism and foreign investment in non-hydrocarbon sectors.
Its central bank said in August it expected the economy to contract this year amid low energy prices and the coronavirus crisis, after it shrank 0.3% last year, but did not give an estimate.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday revised down its forecast for Qatar's real GDP in 2020, expecting it to shrink by 4.5% versus an April forecast of a 4.3% contraction.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204))
