Recession in Qatar: Jobs, Beggars and Traffic

As I approached my car, the man fixed me in his gaze and approached me. Lifting up his shirt to display a bloody wound, he pleaded with me for money.

"Please sir, I have car accident, need to go home to India..."

I gave him a few riyals and he started crying, pleading for more.

An increase in the number of beggars seems to be one effect of the recession in Qatar. Although against the law - beggars run the risk of being arrested - I have also seen women with their heads covered asking for money; in one case entering the restaurant I was eating and going round the tables despite the protests of the waiter.

Other friends, particularly those who walk a lot, also tell of being approached by beggars. One reported being approached by the same beggar as me. This time the beggar complained after receiving 50 riyals - "more, more" he said.

Beggars may do quite well here. Locals often feel it is their Islamic duty to help those less fortunate, while expats whose hearts have not been hardened by the frequency of beggers in other countries are more likely to give. With many people stranded here, and with those who are here on an illegal basis unable to access the public healthcare system, it's an obvious choice for those who are desperate.

It's not without risk, though. Begging is illegal, and transgressors risk arrest, imprisonment and deportation.

Perhaps another cause in the increase in beggers is the increasing trend to not paying workers recently highlighted by Al Jazeera. Contractors are increasingly holding back wages, sometimes for months. Heartbreakingly, the workers have often borrowed heavily to come out, sometimes even mortgaging their land. With no shortage of labourers desperate for work, complaining has little effect.

At the other end of the scale, I knew one gentleman who came out to work here and was given a nice car, a great house to live in and the latest mobile phone - but no money. "I've given you everything you need - what do you need money for?" his boss asked him.

Another aspect of the recession - a positive one for a change - seems to be a very welcome decrease in traffic. This is something I have noticed on the school run, with the time from the school to my office dropping by ten minutes. With, apparently, 60,000 expats leaving Qatar to return home in the last few months that's perhaps no surprise. It's not likely to last long - when the economy picks up and the Qatar economy, aided by vast government projects, resumes expansion, the traffic is likely to get worse than ever!

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The Financial Crisis in Qatar

Financial Crisis? What Financial Crisis?

Hold UT was asking about the financial crisis on our forum today (see Finance-Crisis in Qatar), to which my wife, looking over my shoulder, said:

Financial crisis? Do we have a financial crisis in Qatar?

I am not reporting this to boast or gloat - I don't think we are perfectly secure in Qatar, although I'd rather be here than in the UK right now - but the majority of people are not feeling the crisis yet.

This is not the case in real estate, which despite office vacancy rates of just 1% has been experiencing property prices drops of up to fifty percent.

This is likely to continue: on a single page Qatar Today is reporting a 40% drop in demand for property - and a predicted 150% increase in office space!

Nor, with the price of oil falling to around $50 a barrel, does everyone believe the almost daily reassurance in the papers here.

No Credit Crunch for the Qatar Government

On the positive side we have a government who has a huge reserve of cash - and it is not afraid to use it.

It is pouring billions into the country's infrastructure, and according to one businessman I spoke to planned projects over the next few years are likely to mean an increase in the expat population rather than a decrease.

Natural Gas: Qatar's Saviour?

It's also worth remembering that Qatar is not wholly dependent on its shrinking oil reserves, and future revenue is likely to come from Natural Gas.

Natural Gas is still just coming on line, and the country that will turn America into the largest Natural Gas importer in the world is still producing at a fraction of its potential.

Furthermore, Natural Gas is often sold via long term contracts, meaning that the income provided is likely to be more stable than petrodollars.

So my main worry is real estate - and the huge borrowings companies that will have been made to finance their frenetic building.

But the average person on the street, like my wife, is barely aware of it. Hopefully, they'll stay that way.

Also see: Doing Business in Qatar | Job Vacancies in Qatar

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