A sharp drop in the value of Qatar’s projects market contributed to the Gulf projects index falling by 0.2 per cent to $2.4 trillion for the week up until 20 September.

The 1.6 per cent fall in the value of projects planned or under way in Qatar was due to the cancellation of a $1.3bn polyethylene plant and the completion of $2.3bn-worth of projects.

The launch of three new projects worth a total of $288m was not enough to compensate for the decrease.

Qatar was not the only GCC country to witness a decline. The GCC projects market, which accounts for about 73 per cent of the total Gulf index, dropped by 0.7 per cent as both the UAE and Saudi Arabia recorded a fall in their projects markets of 1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

The main contributor to the decrease in the value of projects in the UAE was a $1.6bn expansion project at the Khalifa City development in Abu Dhabi being put on hold. Saudi Arabia’s projects market contracted as the $1.3bn Prophet’s Mosque upgrade and the $87m Narjan Airport expansion schemes were completed.

Outside the GCC, Iran’s projects market grew by 2.5 per cent as three new projects were launched. The largest of those was the estimated $8bn Forouz oil field development project. Iraq’s projects market recorded a minor increase as a $100m electrical substation project in Mosul was added to its projects index.

Iraq maintains its position as the region’s fastest growing projects market, recording a 50 per cent year-on-year increase.

The political unrest across the region is still having an impact on the Gulf’s projects market as the index is down by almost 14 per cent on the same period last year. The GCC market is down by 22 per cent year-on-year.