gulfnews : Oil windfall poised to boost Gulf economies

If the forecasts by leading economists are to be believed, the Gulf countries are headed for a new economic boom, largely driven by the oil windfall.
HSBC has forecast that higher oil prices will bring record revenues to the region in 2012, adding an estimated $400 billion (Dh1.47 trillion) to the assets of its producers and lifting the region's gross domestic product to $2.7 trillion.
"Oil prices have risen 20 per cent [over the last quarter], a rise which will translate, for the region's oil producers, into an additional $400 million a day in revenues. We estimate total export receipts will come in at $750 billion in 2012, taking dollar GDP [gross domestic product] for the region as a whole to $2.5 trillion and adding over $400 billion to the oil producers' already substantial foreign assets," Simon Williams, chief economist, Middle East and North Africa of HSBC, wrote in a report.

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