ABSTRACT
Qatar has produced oil in commercial quantities since 1949 and received oil revenues in respect of this production since 1950. In the early 1950s Qatar state tried to adopt Bahrain’s system of financial administration in allocating its oil revenue. This chapter is concerned with the years for which no central budgets were obtained. It examines the state public revenues, public expenditure and the public reserve for the periods 1953–1955 and 1966–1970. The chapter provides the basis for analysing the allocation of oil revenue. Although a distinction between the public purse and the privy purse of the ruler had been drawn as early as 1950, the government departments had to be established before any comprehensive development programme could commence. The allocation to the privy purse of the ruler, which did not appear in the budget, has been estimated as equalling the state oil revenue less the government budget oil revenue.
