The GDP of Dubai’s economy grew by 6.2 percent in 2021. Strategic actions and projects to stimulate the economy helped the emirate’s GDP increase 5.9 percent to AED 102 billion ($27.8 billion) in Q1 2022.
At the Executive Council meeting on Thursday at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, the GDP figures were revealed.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, said that the growth “demonstrates the emirate’s solid economic fundamentals and ability to maintain sustained growth.”
“We are poised to enter a new phase of our economic development, which will focus mainly on the knowledge-based economy,” he said.
According to Sheikh Hamdan, the government’s attractive fiscal measures directly helped to stimulate economic growth in Dubai. The success of Expo 2020 Dubai was an important factor in driving a post-pandemic tourism boom, leading to increased air and sea traffic and record foreign trade.
The UAE central bank had launched a Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) to help various banks provide temporary relief to companies and individuals affected by the crisis and boost lending capacity through the relief of existing capital and liquidity buffers.
Several measures of TESS have been extended until June 30 to support the continued recovery of the country’s economy.
Global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal had said that the UAE’s top banks benefitted from better margins in the first quarter of 2022, but there is a risk of deterioration of asset quality in Q2 2022 as the TESS, which was rolled out in March 2020 is coming to an end by mid-2022.
