Gulf rebound set as #SaudiArabia, #UAE seen topping 4% growth in 2022 | Reuters

Gulf rebound set as Saudi Arabia, UAE seen topping 4% growth in 2022 | Reuters

The six economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are set to rebound and grow 2% to nearly 3% this year while the region's two largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are forecast to grow over 4% next year, a quarterly Reuters survey showed.

That outlook follows steep declines last year following an oil price crash and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while analysts expected Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait to benefit from an OPEC+ deal to boost oil production. read more

"Our core assumption was that a longer-term deal would be secured, and we raise our 2022 forecasts on the back of the baseline adjustments, which will enable the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to raise oil output and their global market share from May 2022," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

Medians in the July 5-26 poll pegged Saudi Arabia's growth at 2.3% this year, down slightly from a forecast of 2.4% in a similar poll three months ago.