IMF sees positive momentum in UAE’s retail, service sectors

IMF sees positive momentum in UAE’s retail, service sectors

A persistent reform drive along with rapid acceleration of private investment underpinned by abundant liquidity has enabled the UAE and other oil exporters in the region to maintain a positive momentum in the retail and service sectors, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

The Washington-based organisation projected a non-oil GDP growth of 3.7 per cent in 2023 for oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa. The overall regional growth is estimated to drop from 5.3 per cent last year to 3.1 per cent in 2023 due to tight policies to restore macroeconomic stability, agreed Opec+ oil production cuts, and the fallout from the recent deterioration in global financial conditions.

In its Regional Economic Outlook, the IMF said that while oil-dependent economies of the Gulf Arab states and others in the region have reaped the benefits of elevated crude prices, other countries — such as Pakistan — have seen growth collapse after unprecedented flooding last summer or as economic woes worsened.

In 2023, the Fund said that economies across the region will likely slow as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains. After surging last year, inflation is forecast to remain elevated at 14.8 per cent