The value of projects under way in the Gulf dropped for a fourth straight week on 15 December as the total value of projects in the region planned or under way fell by 0.8 per cent to $2.84 trillion.

Overall, $23.68bn of projects fell off the index with 24 projects worth $4.23bn completed in the week, while 17 projects worth $16.33bn were put on hold. Nine new projects worth $3.12bn were added to the index.

With a decline of 0.9 per cent in the value of its projects, the GCC accounted for most of the drops. Fresh from winning the rights to host football’s 2022 World Cup, it was ironic that it was Qatar’s market that performed most poorly, falling by 2.3 per cent as major project budgets were revised.

The other major decline was registered in the UAE, where the index fell by 1.9 per cent. The UAE’s market was driven down by 14 projects, mostly in the real-estate sector, now being considered by MEED Projects to be on hold.

The largest scheme now on hold is Abu Dhabi’s $15bn Mina Zayed development. The project had been in the planning stages since 2005, but had struggled to move forward as the project’s developer, the local Aldar Properties, continues to struggle in a market where real-estate prices have fallen by up to 25 per cent since late 2008 and off plan sales have dried up.

The Omani market also witnessed a slight dip of 0.1 per cent.

Balancing the declines in Qatar and the UAE was Bahrain, which recorded growth of 1.3 per cent, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which posted minor gains of less than 0.1 per cent.

Outside the GCC, Iran’s project market fell by 0.7 per cent and Iraq’s index rose by 0.1 per cent.

Compared to last year, the Gulf Index remains in positive territory with overall growth of 4.8 per cent.