The World Bank expected in its report on the latest economic developments in the Arab Gulf region, the economies of the GCC countries to return to achieving an overall growth of 2.2 percent in the current year 2021 after a year of economic stumbling.
The report, entitled “COVID-19 Pandemic and the Road to Diversification”, indicated that this growth is supported by the recovery of the global economy, whose growth rate is expected to reach 5.6 percent, and the recovery of global demand for oil and its global prices. The report showed that the Corona pandemic and the decline in global demand for oil and its prices had hit the Gulf Cooperation Council countries with a health crisis and shock that shook primary commodity markets, which led to a contraction of GDP by 4.8 percent in 2020.
According to the report, it is expected that the fiscal deficit will continue for most of the forecast period, and that Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, the countries that recorded the largest deficits in public budgets in 2020, will continue to record deficits throughout the years between 2021 and 2023, but in lower percentages of GDP in 2023 than during the decline in economic activity in 2020. The reduction in oil production has reduced Gulf Cooperation Council exports of goods and services by 8.1 percent in real terms, shifting the current account surplus of 6.8 percent from GDP in 2019 will reach a deficit of 2.9 percent in 2020.
Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
