June 2018 marked a year since Qatar was plunged into a diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt. So far the tiny emirate appears to have weathered the storm. Economic growth actually picked up from 1.4% in the first half of the year (the six months to June) to 1.8% in the second half despite a slowdown in non-hydrocarbon growth that offset a lack of disruption to oil and gas production. GDP growth slowed to a still impressive 1.8% in the three months to December 2017 compared with a year earlier, which was down from 1.9% in the previous quarter but still up from the 0.3% in the second quarter, which was the lowest rate since 2009 global crisis. The International Monetary Fund used its biannual economic forecasts in April 2018 to trim its outlook for growth in the face of the continued economic blockade. It forecast growth of 2.6% in 2018 in its world economic outlook, a cut from the 3.1% it had pencilled in in October 2017. The IMF believes that the economy grew 2.1% in 2017, which was the lowest since 1994. Official figures show that the economy slowed slightly in the fourth quarter of 2017. GDP growth fell to 1.8% in the three months to September compared with a year earlier, which was down from 1.9% in the previous quarter but still up from the 0.3% in the second quarter, which was the lowest rate since 2009 global crisis. Estimates put full growth at just 1.6%, according to the Qatar National Bank, a private lender. The latest quarterly figure will be seen as a sign that the emirate continues to be resilient in the face of the economic embargo as this was the second full quarter since it began. Qatar, which had relied heavily on Saudi Arabia and the UAE for much of its imports including a third and construction materials, was quick to find alternative suppliers, turning to Iran, Turkey and other countries further afield.