Gulf economies set to recover in 2018 but debt pile a concern - IMF | ZAWYA MENA Edition:
"The economies of Gulf Arab oil exporters are likely to recover this year, but at a slightly slower pace than previously expected, while a rapid build-up of debt in the region is a concern, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report on Wednesday.
Last year, weak oil prices and OPEC-led production cuts depressed economic activity across the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. The bloc's real gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent in 2017 as Saudi Arabia, its largest economy, saw its first economic contraction since 2009.
The IMF now expects growth in the GCC economies to accelerate to 1.9 percent this year and by 2.6 percent in 2019, largely thanks to a continued recovery in non-oil activity as fiscal consolidation slows. That is still a far cry, however, from an average rate of economic expansion of 4.9 percent seen in 2000-2014."
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