Dream destination

Bayern Munich training at the Aspire Academy ground in Doha.

As the muezzin called out for Isha (evening prayer) from Qatar’s grand mosque, Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, bang opposite the Qatar Sports Club, Rakhal Chandra Malakar in his taxi waited patiently for passengers till the prayer got over.

Rakhal, 55, who came to Qatar from Boalkhali in Bangladesh’s Chittagong district in 1985 on a ‘free visa’, now owns the used car which he uses as a private taxi. Over the last three decades, he has since seen this tiny Gulf nation undergoing great change.

The country’s revenue comes from its gas and oil exports. But for the first time in more than a decade Qatar experienced its first budget deficit as a result of lower oil prices. There’s also a growing belief that a large portion of the country’s wealth should have been invested in healthcare and education.

Qatar is booming because of the 2022 event. Every day on an average, there’s maddening rush with fresh arrivals of expats at the luxurious Hamad International Airport. Virtually all of them come with a dream — earn tax-free salaries and financial stability.

But ‘all that glitter is no more gold’ as it has become one the costliest cities in the region and, the government too has tightened its budget and adopted measures to control over-spending.

A tax-free salary isn’t too a great thing in the oil and gas-rich nation now as the cost of living rose 1.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the second quarter (Q2) of this year according to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS). Housing rents, education, transport and tobacco prices remained above the overall general price levels.

The country is wealthiest in terms of per capita income in the world. Powerful sport officials as well as fading football stars Xavi Hernandez and Gianfranco Zola find a comfort zone here, with the former currently playing for top side Al Sadd while the Italian recently coached Al Arabi.

Qatar has poured money into the World Cup project with a staggering $200bn on infrastructure, including a new rail network, hotels and roads.

Yet, Qatar isn’t taking chances. The government’s austerity measures are done to control over-spending. 

The country wants its citizens to depend less on government jobs, handouts and subsidies and as Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani rightly said, “Qataris need to be a little more progressive and motivated.”