Qatar Finance Minister Ali al-Emadi said that the country is spending almost $500M per week on "major infrastructure projects as it prepares" for the 2022 World Cup, according to the BBC. Emadi expected spending to "continue at that level for three to four years as new stadiums, motorways, rail links and hospitals are built." More than $200B will be spent in total by the "gas-rich emirate." Emadi denied that the plans would make the '22 tournament the "most expensive World Cup yet." The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is reported to have cost $11B to host, while Russia recently increased government spending on the 2018 World Cup by $321M to $10.7B. Emadi said, "We are giving ourselves a good chance to deliver things on time. We don't want to be in a place where we start painting when people are coming to the country" (BBC, 2/8). The AFP reported Emadi said that the figure covered "not only stadiums but huge and costly projects such as roads, a new airport and hospitals." Emadi: "90% of the 2022 contracts have already been awarded. That doesn't mean the stadiums only, we are talking about highways, rail, ports, airports, those are really underway, even hospitals and everything." Qatar, which has the world's "third-largest natural gas reserves and produces up to 800,000 barrels of oil a day," has been forced to "tighten its belt" following a '14 collapse in the price of crude (AFP, 2/7).
