GCC Economies are Well-Placed to Ensure Recovery

GCC Economies are Well-Placed to Ensure Recovery

The aftermath of the economic and market turbulence due to Covid-19 has redefined the landscape for GCC member states. A relatively bleak growth outlook requires a shift in expectations - with a recovery unlikely until 2021.

However, some GCC countries such as the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are well placed to ensure this recovery becomes a reality as their strong Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) will pay a vital role in helping the economies get back on their feet.

As with other regions globally, the growth outlook for the Middle East has suffered from the economic shutdown at the mercy of the pandemic. This has triggered volatile and declining asset prices, collapsed oil prices, shattered investor sentiment, negligible consumer spending and sweeping monetary and fiscal responses.

Amid such knock-on effects, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) has described the current situation as the biggest economic challenge for the GCC states in their history. This is reflected by a range of economic forecasts.

By April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had reversed its early 2020 overall GDP projection of the region growing by 2.5% for 2020, to a contraction of 2.8% for the year. The IIF, meanwhile, expects a decline of 4.4% in 2020, with