Qatar has raised domestic prices of gasoline by 30% from midnight on Thursday, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported, as low oil and gas prices put the squeeze on the national budget.
The Qatari government said last month that it expected a budget deficit of $12.8bn in 2016, its first deficit in 15 years.
Like other GCC states, it has been looking at cutting lavish consumer subsidies for fuel and other products and services.
Memos from state fuel company Woqod, posted at gasoline stations across Doha on Thursday, gave a few hours’ notice of the increase to QAR1.30 ($0.357) per litre from QAR1 for Super 97-Octane.
The new price will still be one of the lowest in the world.
QNA did not say how much money the government expected to save with the reform.
The United Arab Emirates removed subsides on domestic fuel in August, while Saudi Arabia did so last month. Oman and Bahrain have followed suit this week, while Kuwait is expected to take similar action in the coming months.
