Qatar raised its budget surplus estimate notably to QR54.3bn ($ 15bn) for the fiscal year ended in March as revenue was higher than previously expected, preliminary data showed yesterday.

The 2011/12 fiscal surplus of the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas was equivalent to 8.6% of gross domestic product, according to the economy and finance ministry calculation, up from the original QR22.5bn plan.

The surplus, the highest since at least 2005/06, is well up from QR44.5bn reported earlier in July in a prospectus for the country’s Islamic bond.

That gives the government a comfortable cushion as it plans to spend more than 10% of GDP on average on infrastructure in the run-up to hosting the soccer World Cup tournament in 2022.

In the previous fiscal year, Qatar posted a revised surplus of QR13.5bn, or 2.9% of GDP, the data showed. It previously reported a surplus of QR12.8bn.

The Opec member’s expenditure surged over 16% to a record QR165.8bn last fiscal year, according to the data, above QR158.9bn reported in the prospectus and QR139.9bn planned.

In September, Qatar, which has avoided the social unrest that rocked the Arab world last year, raised basic salaries and social benefits for state civilian employees by 60%, while military staff received 50-120% increases.

Spending on government wages and salaries jumped more than 28% to an upwards revised QR29.6bn in 2011/12 from a year ago, the ministry data released by the central bank also showed.

The Gulf state plans to boost spending further to QR178.6bn in the fiscal year that began in April, including on wages, services and infrastructure, but expects to see a still comfortable surplus of QR27.8bn.

Revenue soared by over 41% to a revised all-time high of QR220.1bn in 2011/12 thanks to a jump in hydrocarbon and other income, the data showed.
The country’s prospectus previously reported revenue of 203.4bn riyals.

The original revenue plan was QR162.5bn based on a conservative oil price estimate of $ 55 per barrel.

Oil and gas-related revenue accounted for roughly 70% of Qatar’s overall budget income, according to the revised data.