Khaleej Times, Thursday, Aug 18, 2022 | Muharram 20, 1444
UAE economy is expected to grow by over 5% in 2022: UBS
Emirates: Michael Bolliger, chief investment
officer Emerging Markets at UBS Global Wealth Management, has stated that he
expects the UAE’s economy to grow by over five per cent in 2022.
In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (Wam), Bollinger said that the
UAE’s economy grew by 3.8 per cent in 2021 due to appropriate government
incentives and plans and the vaccination of all citizens and residents, noting
that the growth of the non-oil sector also played a significant role in this
economic recovery.
All indexes, including the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and Business
Confidence Index (BCI), showed that the growth of the non-oil sector is still
robust after a good start to the year, as the country’s GDP grew by 8.2 per cent
in the first quarter of 2022 while oil-related GDP grew by 13 per cent, in line
with relevant Opec+ agreements, he added.
The increase of the UAE’s real income levels, as a result of rising wages and
employment rates, helped support local demand and, therefore, strengthened the
country’s wholesale, retail and real estate sectors, he further added.
The transport, tourism and hospitality sectors also achieved solid recoveries in
the past period, with the rise in the numbers of tourists and hotel occupancy
rates, Bollinger said, noting that the rapid recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic
and the significant contributions of non-oil sectors, highlight the UAE’s
economic diversification.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies will grow by 6.4 per cent in 2022
and 3.4 per cent in 2023, he stressed.
"The global economy has entered a downward trend due to rising concerns of a
recession and the US’s GDP decreased by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of
2022 while concerns of a recession in Europe are rising," he noted.
Inflation is still a major worry for monetary policy-makers worldwide and the
current inflation dynamics do not leave much room for less restrictive policies
by central banks.
“We believe that the US Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates to
reach 100 basis points by the end of 2022,” he said.