According to state news agency WAM, the UAE central bank has raised its forecast for real gross domestic product growth this year from 6.5 to 7.6 percent, up more than a percentage point from the previous estimate. The forecast for growth next year has been lowered.
Real GDP was expected to grow 3.9 percent in 2023, revised down from a previous estimate. The Central Bank attributed the increase in growth forecast to the strong performance of some non-oil sectors, including tourism, hospitality, real estate, transportation and manufacturing.
In its quarterly review report for the third quarter of this year, the bank expected non-oil GDP to grow by 6.1 percent in 2022, compared to 4.3 percent in its previous estimates, while the oil GDP is expected to grow by 11 percent in 2022. According to the research, real GDP continued to grow rapidly in the third quarter after seeing robust growth in the first half of the year, which was fueled by an increase in oil output.
This was the result of the removal of most COVID-related restrictions, in addition to the recovery in the global travel and tourism sector, the boom in the real estate and construction sectors, the expansion of manufacturing activities, as well as global events. The report indicated that the real GDP growth forecasts in 2023 have been revised to 3.9 percent, with non-oil GDP is expected to grow by 4.2 percent and non-oil GDP is expected to grow by 3 percent.
Government revenues increased year-on-year by 46.7 percent in the first half of this year to Dh305.6 billion as a result of the increase in taxes and social contributions. In the first half of this year, the year-over-year spending climbed by 6.1% to Dh180.1 billion, up from a growth of 5% in the same period previous year.
