Some Middle East economies start recovering; GDP forecasts revised | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Some Middle East economies start recovering; GDP forecasts revised | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Some economies in the Middle East are already starting to recover after months of hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new analysis by PwC.

Expectations for growth domestic product (GDP) have been scaled up for Gulf states like Bahrain and Oman, but trimmed for Saudi Arabia, as new official data have become available recently.

Bahrain’s real GDP is likely to grow by 3.3 percent in 2020, up from the 2.3 percent forecast published in December 2020. Oman’s economy is also expected to perform better than previously forecast, with its GDP estimated to be around 1.8 percent, up from -0.5 percent.

As for Saudi Arabia, real GDP will be around 2.6 percent, down from 3.1 percent in the previous estimate.

Forecasts for Qatar, Kuwait and UAE have remained the same at 2.5 percent, 0.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.