UAE Business: IMF forecasts 5% real growth in region this year – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: IMF forecasts 5% real growth in region this year – Gulf Digital News

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast a real GDP growth of 5 per cent this year across the region, increasing from 4.1 per cent in 2021, as a multispeed recovery continued in the first half of the year.

The 2023 growth is currently forecast at 3.6 per cent, it was revealed at the launch of the IMF report on the region.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a leading global financial centre, and the IMF today co-hosted the first in-person event in three years to launch the October 2022 Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for the Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) region.

Crude producers, in particular, are projected to accrue a cumulative oil windfall of about $1 trillion over 2022−26, which oil-exporting countries like the UAE could use to continue to invest in projects that support future economic growth.

Oil exporters’ external accounts, including the UAE, are expected to further improve in 2022−23 as energy prices remain considerably higher than their 2020−21 levels.

Primary non-oil fiscal balances are also slated to improve with most Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) nations expected to continue to save a substantial share of their oil revenues.

In contrast, oil-importing countries face a deep