A Reuters poll revealed that the economic activity in the Arab Gulf region recorded a sharp contraction this year, before recovering in 2021, because of its damage from the double shock of the Coronavirus pandemic and the collapse in oil prices.
Reuters expected a severe economic contraction in the hydrocarbon-producing region, as oil prices were affected on both supply and demand sides. According to the survey, the gross domestic product of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to shrink by 5.2 percent in 2020 and then recover to growth of 3.1 percent next year. A similar poll three months ago had expected the kingdom, the region’s largest economy and the world's largest oil exporter, to grow by 1 percent in 2020 and two percent in 2021.
The survey also expects that the economy of Kuwait will record the largest contraction among the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council by 6.1 percent in 2020, with a growth of 2.5 percent in the next year. Whereas three months ago, the Kuwaiti economy was expected to contract by 2.9 percent in 2020, to achieve two percent growth next year.
Source (The New Arab Newspaper, Edited)
