The International Monetary Fund expects Kuwait’s real GDP to grow from 1.3 percent in 2021 to 8.2 percent in 2022, and 2.6 percent in 2023, reports Al-Rai daily. According to the data, Kuwait will achieve the best growth among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as the Fund expects the real GDP in the UAE to grow by 4.2 percent in 2022, and by 3.8 percent in 2023. The IMF also expects Qatar’s real GDP to grow by 3.4 percent this year, and 2.5 percent next year. The IMF indicated the real GDP in Saudi Arabia will grow by 7.6 percent in 2022 and by 3.6 percent in 2023 and expects Oman to achieve a growth of 5.6 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2023, and Bahrain 3.3 percent in 2022 and 3.0 percent next year.
The fund also announced that it raised the economic growth forecast in the Middle East and North Africa region by 0.6 percent to reach 5.8 percent in 2022. The International Monetary Fund expects Kuwait’s current account balance to rise to 31.3 percent of GDP in 2022 and 27.2 percent in 2023, compared to 16.1 percent in 2021. It pointed out that the unemployment rate reached 1.3 percent in 2021. The Fund’s expectations of consumer prices in the Gulf countries and Egypt were as follows: Saudi Arabia by 2.5% in 2022 and by 2.0% in 2023; UAE 3.7% in 2022 and 2.8% in 2023; Qatar by 3.5% in 2022 and by 3.2% in 2023; Kuwait by 4.8% in 2022 and by 2.3% in 2023 and Egypt 7.5% in 2022 and 11.0% in 2023.