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UAE Economy to Grow 1.5 per cent: Dr Saidi

DUBAI — The UAE’s economy, which was expected to contract this year, starts showing positive signs and top government officials forecast that the growth rate will be between 1.3 and 1.5 per cent by the end of this year.

The UAE’s economy will grow 1.5 per cent this year and “rebound further in 2010” the Dubai International Financial Centre chief economist Dr Nasser Saidi said at a conference in London on Thursday, according to Bloomberg news agency. “The rebound will come earlier in the Gulf than in Europe or the US” because of high oil prices, infrastructure spending and stronger investment links to Asia, Dr Saidi said.

He doesn’t expect “any double dip” in Dubai’s economy. Gulf Arab economies will grow 5.2 per cent next year, he said.

The UAE central bank deputy chairman Omar bin Suleiman said last month growth could exceed 4.5 per cent next year, adding he was not particularly worried about inflation following a shake-out in the property sector.

In September, the UAE central bank governor Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said the economy could shrink or register a low growth rate in 2009. The International Monetary Fund expects contraction of 0.2 per cent this year and growth of 2.4 per cent in 2010.

The UAE’s economy, the Arab world’s second-largest, is expected to grow 1.3 per cent in 2009, the country’s economy minister Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri said last month.


abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com