Russian oil
A Archyde.com poll of economists concluded that economic growth for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries will accelerate this year to a pace not seen in the last ten years, and they said that high inflation and a slowdown in the global economy are the biggest risks.
Crude prices, the main driver of Gulf economies, rose following Russia invaded Ukraine in February and kept rising, giving a major boost to the region’s oil and gas-rich economies.
An April 12-22 Archyde.com poll forecast overall growth for the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies would average 5.9 percent this year, the fastest pace since 2012.
As for Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy and the world’s leading exporter of crude oil, regarding 80 percent of respondents, or 17 out of 22 respondents, raised their expectations compared to the previous poll in January.
They expected growth at 6.3 percent in 2022, up from 5.7 percent expected three months ago, which is followed by a decline to 3.2 percent next year. If that happens, growth in 2022 will be the fastest since 2011 when the average oil price averaged around $111 a barrel.
The expected growth in Kuwait was 6.4%, and in the UAE, 5.6%, to be the fastest in regarding a decade. Expected growth for Qatar, Oman and Bahrain came at around 4 percent, the fastest in several years.
