The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates expects a strong return to of the economic growth, with real GDP growth of 2.5 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2022. In its annual report for 2020, the Central Bank revealed that the GDP growth of non-oil sectors was strong, registering a rate of 3.6 percent this year, and 3.9 percent in 2022, which will be a year of "full recovery" thanks to the increase in financial spending with the rise in global oil prices, improvement in credit levels, employment and relative stability in the real estate sector, in addition to the improvement in levels of confidence and preparations to host Expo 2020.
According to the Central Bank, the UAE succeeded last year in achieving a budget surplus of 77.1 billion dirhams, equivalent to 5.9 percent of GDP. On the other hand, the inflation is expected to remain negative in 2021, with a 0.6 percent contraction in consumer prices. The consumer price index recorded a contraction of 2.1 percent last year, compared to an inflation rate of 1.9 percent in 2019. The central bank indicated that the deflation in consumer prices will be higher in the first half of this year in light of lower prices in the real estate sector and personal consumption.
The central data showed a decline in personal remittances by about 5 percent or 8.3 billion dirhams in 2020, reaching to 156.8 billion dirhams. Exchange company remittances decreased by 13.8 percent, or by 18.1 billion dirhams, while personal transfers through banks increased by 28.8 percent, and by 9.8 billion dirhams.
Source (Al Khaleej Newspaper-UAE, Edited)
