The World Bank said on Wednesday that the Middle East and North Africa region is expected to record economic growth of 5.5% in 2022, the fastest pace since 2016, before slowing to 3.5% next year.
Oil exporters in the Persian Gulf have benefitted unexpectedly from rising oil prices. The economies of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries are expected to grow 6.9 percent this year, a full percentage point above the World Bank’s forecast six months ago.
The World Bank said that higher oil prices have increased “the fiscal space of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and will lead to fiscal surpluses for most oil-exporting countries in 2022, even after additional spending on inflation mitigation programs.”
He added: “However, oil-importing developing countries do not have such exceptional revenues and will have to cut other aspects of spending and look for new sources of income or increase deficits and debt to finance inflation-adjusting programs and any other additional spending.”
