World Bank expects UAE’s real GDP to grow by 5.9% in 2022

World Bank expects UAE’s real GDP to grow by 5.9% in 2022

ABU DHABI: The World Bank has hailed the UAE's "favourable business environment and world-class infrastructure", expecting the country's real GDP to grow by 5.9 percent in 2022.

This came as the World Bank announced its new Gulf Economic Update (GEU) where it said higher oil receipts supplemented with a gradual non-oil recovery in the Emirates will bolster fiscal revenue resulting in a fiscal surplus to hover around 4.4 percent of GDP in 2022.

Recent bilateral free trade agreements with Asian partners supported by strong oil exports will place the UAE's current account surplus at 11.2 percent of GDP in 2022, according to the report. However, the bank expected the real GDP to moderate to 4.1 percent in 2023 as slower global demand may dampen growth due to tightening financial conditions.

According to the GEU, the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are projected to expand by 6.9 percent in 2022 before moderating to 3.7 percent and 2.4 percent in 2023 and 2024.

"Easing of pandemic restrictions, and positive developments in the hydrocarbon market drove strong recoveries in 2021 and 2022 across the GCC. Strong economic recovery and supply chain bottlenecks raised inflation in the GCC to an average rate of 2.1 percent in