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dubai — Diversification has put the Dubai economy on road to progress and the emirate will outperform the rest of the Gulf countries by sustaining strong growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 and 2018, according to a latest report.
Institute of International Finance (IIF) said Dubai has performed relatively well due to its diversified economy. Tourism, retail trade and transport will continue to be the key driver of its economic growth.
“We expect growth to accelerate from 2.9 per cent in 2016 to 3.2 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018,” said Garbis Iradian, chief economist for Middle East and North Africa at IIF.
The IIF growth forecast is in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said Dubai will record 3.2 per cent growth this year compared to 2.8 per cent in 2016. “Dubai economy is moving at relatively good speed due to investment in infrastructure projects led by Expo 2020 developments,” Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central
Dubai economy is moving at relatively good speed due to investment in infrastructure projects led by Expo 2020 developments Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department
We expect [Dubai’s economic] growth to accelerate from 2.9 per cent in 2016 to 3.2 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018 Garbis Iradian, adian, Chief economist for or Mena at IIF
dubai — Saudi Arabia’s state budget deficit shrank nearly 10 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter of 2017, keeping the government on track to meet its full-year target for strengthening its finances, official data showed on Sunday.
Revenue climbed 11 per cent to SR142.1 billion ($37.9 billion) in the quarter while spending increased five per cent to SR190.9 billion. That left a deficit of SR48.7 billion, down about 9.5 per cent from a year ago.
The government is working to eliminate a deficit caused by low oil prices, and until the gap can be closed, Riyadh is being forced to borrow heavily and draw down its foreign reserves. For the first nine months of this year, the deficit totalled SR121.5 billion, down 40 per cent year-on-year. That suggests the government is likely to achieve its target of a SR198 billion deficit this year, down from last year’s actual deficit of SR297 billion. Non-oil revenue jumped 80 per cent year- on-year to SR47.8 billion in the third quarter. The finance ministry said this showed Riyadh’s economic reforms, which aim to cut its reli- ance on oil income, were feasible; among other steps, the government imposed a tax on tobacco and sugary drinks in June.
But the success in cutting the deficit has come at a high cost to the economy. Austerity measures pushed the economy into recession in the second quarter of 2017, and have deterred the private investment which the government needs to develop non-oil industries. As a result, sources briefed by finance ministry officials told Reuters early this month that the government planned to push back the target date for eliminating the deficit entirely to 2023 from 2020. The in- troduction of a five per cent valueadded tax is to go ahead on schedule in January but some other revenue-raising steps, such as domestic fuel price rises, are being delayed. — Reuters