Qatar’s economic crisis: Doha reduces foreign workers salaries

CAIRO - 20 August 2017: As a result of Arab boycott of the Qatari regime over terror-related accusations, Doha incurs heavy financial losses and reduces salaries of foreign workers.

Mahmoud Al-Saidi, a member of parliament’s Arab affairs committee said that the Arab’s boycotting trade with Qatar affects negatively Doha’s economy and as a result it couldn’t pay the incomes of foreign workers, which led them to leave the country.

Ahmed Fouad Abaza, another member of parliament’s Arab affairs committee stated that “the flight of foreign workers from Qatar due to the lack of salaries is considered an evidence of Qatar’s failure to solve the current economic crisis.”

Financial experts asserted that the economic crisis in Qatar has been reflected in the Qatari government's salaries. The huge economic losses and the inability of Iran and Turkey to compensate those losses have pushed a large proportion of foreign workers to leave.

They said these loses will reflect significantly on Qatar projects, especially the construction of the stadium in Doha in preparation for the World Cup in 2022.
According to the report of al-Iqtisadi, foreign workers in Qatar declined by 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017 as 123,860 workers left Doha after its support for terrorism was established

57 foreign workers leave Qatar per hour, which is considered the biggest quarterly decline from early 2016 until the end of the first half of 2017. This came following the Arab crisis with Qatar.

The total number of employed persons in Qatar reached 1.88 million in the second quarter of 2017, dropping from 2 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Doha’s government and private sector rely heavily on foreign labor which represents 94.8 percent of Qatar's total workforce, while Qatari workers account for the remaining 5.2 percent.

The number of foreign workers in Qatar declined by about 6 percent coinciding with the increase in the food and beverage prices index by 4.5 percent in Qatar during July 2017.
Qatar’s relations with several Arab and Gulf states have been strained since May 24, when the Qatari state-run news agency reported Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s statements regarding Gulf foreign policy with Iran, describing it as “unwise.”

On June 5, 2017, several countries, including Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, severed diplomatic ties with Doha over accusations of Qatar backing and funding terrorist groups.

On June 23, 2017, the four Arab states have requested 13 demands from Qatar, which were presented by Kuwait, the mediator in the crisis. The demands included that Qatar shut down Al Jazeera TV network, cut diplomatic ties with Iran, stop financing and supporting terror groups, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and end Turkey's military presence in Doha.