Issam Abu Suleiman, Regional Director for the Gulf Cooperation Council at the World Bank, expected that the growth of the gross domestic product of the United Arab Emirates would exceed 4 percent in the next year 2023.
Abu Suleiman said in an interview with the Emirates News Agency, WAM: “Despite the difficult global economic conditions, our estimates suggest that the UAE economy will grow by about 4.1 percent next year, benefiting greatly from the strong recovery of the non-oil economy.”
Abu Suleiman indicated that the increase in the volume of oil exports in the UAE and the recovery of demand for non-oil sectors is expected to support strong economic growth, as well as the favorable business environment in the country and the developed infrastructure.
He explained that the increase in oil revenues, in addition to the recovery of non-oil sectors, would enhance the financial revenues of the UAE, which would lead to a financial surplus of approximately 4.4 percent of the gross domestic product in 2022, noting that the bilateral free trade agreements that the UAE recently signed with partners Asians, and supported by the strength of oil exports, is expected to result in a current account surplus of 11.2 percent of GDP in 2022.
Abu Suleiman stated that among the main factors behind the strong growth of the UAE economy is its leadership in the countries of the world with a successful vaccination program for the “Covid-19” virus, in addition to monetary and financial incentive packages, indicating that all these factors led to the UAE’s economy becoming one of the fastest economies in the world. Reaching the pre-pandemic stage among the Gulf countries.
He pointed out that the United Arab Emirates will host next year the United Nations Climate Conference “COP 28”, indicating that the country is in a good position to host this huge event, especially as it has a proven and excellent record in hosting large international events such as the government summit and the “Expo Dubai 2020” exhibition. “.
He pointed out that the UAE’s hosting of “Cop 28” confirms its leadership in the field of climate change, and its ability to work with other countries to address global issues and indicates its great ambition in this field, noting that preparing for the event will help develop global, national and regional strategies to address climate change issues. and setting an agenda for green growth.
Abu Suleiman stated that the UAE is considered one of the most important countries in the hydrogen industry, with large investments in this industry to diversify energy sources, and the UAE’s investments in the field of renewable energy over the past fifteen years have achieved the lowest cost of solar energy production in the world.
He pointed out that the UAE’s investments at the international level have contributed to significant reductions in the costs of renewable energy over the past decade, which has led to the reshaping of global energy markets, indicating that the country is making an unprecedented effort to the highest level of climate ambition.
The Regional Director for the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries at the World Bank said that previous estimates indicated an expected growth for the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries by 3.7 percent and 2.4 percent in the years 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Abu Suleiman attributed the strong performance of the economies of the Gulf states to the oil sector, which is expected to grow by 11.5 percent in 2022, while for the next year, OPEC + has recently indicated adopting a more cautious production approach in light of the weak global economic prospects.
He expected the non-oil sectors of the Gulf economies to continue to grow by 4.3 percent in 2022 and 2.9 percent in the medium term, after easing the precautionary measures resulting from the “Covid-19” pandemic, in addition to increasing fixed investments and export growth, and also expected to benefit from High oil revenues to increase capital spending.
Source: globeecho
