Domestic investment will reach the a total of QR 820 billion during the period 2011 to 2016 (QR 347 billion from the central government investment plus QR 85 billion from the  oil and gas sector as well as QR 389 billion from the private sector, non-hydrocarbon). Private investment will take a leading role in advancing the growth stimulated by government-linked companies such as Barwa Al Rayyan, Qatar Aluminum and Qatar National Bank, and will lead to doubling the proportion of private sector investment to GDP to 15% by the year 2016. Infrastructure spending will peak in 2012, then stabilize and grow at a rate of 5% per year. Aware of the possibility of the price of a barrel of oil lowering to $74 a barrel, Qatar has forecast this would reduce rates of economic growth by two points, and thus decrease the surplus budget to GDP to 4% in 2016 instead of 6% in the baseline scenario. On the other hand, Qatar's total population is expected to grow at almost 2.1% during the period 2011-2016, an increase in the total population of about 1.64 million people by the end of 2010 to nearly 1.9 million people in 2016. These assumptions are based on an increase in the proportion of expatriates with high skills and high wages, as well as lower wage workers who will largely support building the necessary infrastructure for the World Cup.

 

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