Qatar is bracing for a QR5.8 billion ($1.6 billion) deficit in its budget for 2009-2010, the country's first since 2001, owing to a slump in oil prices, said a report.

The budget is based on an oil price of $40 per barrel, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) said giving details of the new budgetary estimates for the fiscal year 2009/2010.

The revenues estimated are QR88.7 billion, down from QR103.3 billion in the previous financial year when crude rates reached record highs of $147 a barrel, Qatar minister of economy and finance Yousuf Hussein Kamal was quoted as saying.

Kamal, however, insisted that it will pump more funds into infrastructure development projects in line with its vision for 2030. The spending has been estimated at QR94.5 billion, he added.

About QR37.9 billion has been allocated for strategic infrastructure projects in some key areas like health, education and human resource development, the report added.