Why we shouldn't be fooled if the Gulf sees its strongest ever growth in 2021 - Arabianbusiness

Why we shouldn't be fooled if the Gulf sees its strongest ever growth in 2021 - Arabianbusiness

Gulf economies are set to experience potentially the strongest ever growth in 2021, according to Elliot Hentov, head of strategy and policy at State Street Global Advisors.

However, he warned that the headline figures for next year will be “misleading” after what he described as “by far the worst global traction and global growth since basically we’ve had a global economy”.

Despite the gradual roll-out of Covid-19 vaccination programmes, he feared further casualties from the “wreckage” of 2020, where the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc on global economies.

Hentov told Arabian Business: “It will look very misleading because the headline growth figures, the momentum and the trends, will be very strong in 2021. Not only do we see it well above the historical average of the last few years, we see it as probably one of the strongest growth years ever.

“But then we’ve had by far the worst global traction and global growth since basically we’ve had a global economy. After the biggest contraction you would expect that. But the scars of the global economy will become clear and certain parts will have become permanently disfigured.