GCC set to return to 2.2% growth: World Bank

Economies of the GCC countries are expected to return to an aggregate growth of 2.2 per cent this year after a 4.8 per cent contraction in 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and lower oil prices, the World Bank said.

“With recent progress made with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine globally and with the revival of production and trade worldwide, the prospects for an economic recovery are firmer now than at the end of last year,” the Washington-based institution said in the latest issue of its Gulf Economic Update (GEU).