Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – The Arab Monetary Fund has predicted a growth rate of 5.4 percent for Arab economies in 2022, in comparison to 3.5 percent in 2021.
The growth is attributed to improvement in global demand levels and the growth of the oil and gas sectors.
Aids by Arab governments to support economic recovery is also a reason for the growth, the Fund said, according to WAM.
Global economy is expected to rise 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.9 percent in 2023, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidy said.
He was speaking in the 46th Ordinary Session of the Council of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Authorities Governors, hosted by Saudi Arabia.
“Those estimates were relatively optimistic at the beginning of the year, amounting to about 3.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively,” he said.
It shows the uncertainty around global developments, and the “possibility of the global economy entering a phase of so-called stagflation,” he added.
Estimates predict the “global inflation rate to reach about 8.3 percent in 2022, and 5.7 percent in 2023 compared to an average of 3.2 percent and 4.7 percent in 2020 and 2021, respectively,” he remarked.
However, economic growth for Arab countries is expected to decline in 2023 to record about 4.0 percent, in line with the decline in global economic growth rate.
This also includes expected decline in commodity prices, and the impact of withdrawal from expansionary fiscal and monetary policies that support the aggregate demand side.