In The Gcc, Kuwait's Economy Performs The Best

Kuwait has the best performance among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, according to the World Bank, which predicts an increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year from 5.7 to 8.5 percent. In its report on the latest economic developments entitled, “A New State of Mind: Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa,” the World Bank stated that Kuwait’s real GDP per capita will increase by 7.4 percent compared to 4.5 percent in its previous forecast.

Compared to the previous estimate of 2.5 percent, the per capita share will increase by 1.4 percent next year. Kuwait's current account balance will reach 28.6 percent in 2022 and 23.6 percent in 2023, provided the overall balance of the public budget will reach 1.1 percent this year and then down to -0.5 percent next year. The bank expects the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to record economic growth of 5.5 percent in 2022 — the fastest since 2016, and then it will decline to 3.5 percent next year.

In addition, the six GCC countries' economies are expected to grow by 6.9 percent this year - a full percentage point higher than predicted six months ago. The bank pointed out that higher oil prices strengthened the fiscal space of the GCC countries and will lead to fiscal surpluses for most oil-exporting countries in 2022, even after the additional spending on inflation mitigation programs. The report added: “However, oil importing developing countries do not have such exceptional gains. They will have to reduce other aspects of spending and search for new sources of revenue or increase deficits and debts to finance inflation relief programs and any other additional spending.

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