KUWAIT CITY, Jan 6: The Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) revealed GDP growth by 4.4% to more than USD 2.8 trillion in 2021 amid expectations that it could keep its positive growth during 2022 by 4.5% to three trillion US dollars following 4.5% shrinkage during 2020.

In a press release on the occasion of issuing the fourth quarterly bulletin (Investment Guarantee) for 2021, the corporation said the Arab economic improvement during 2021 is due to the relative decline in the reflections of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) and the hiking prices of oil whose revenues still represent a considerable quota in the governmental GDP, exports and revenues of many countries in the region.

In addition, the global economy grew by 5.9% during 2021, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates in October 2021. Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Al-Sabeeh, the Director-General of the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) said in the editorial that all Arab economic indicators during 2021 saw a remarkable improvement compared with 2020 as GDP per capita in Arab countries improved by 13% to USD 6375 on average and to about USD 15445 according to purchasing power parity (PPT) amid expectations that the improvement could continue to hit USD 6612on average during 2022 despite the rise in population from 443 million to 452 million during the same period.

Al-Sabeeh pointed out an improvement in several other Arab economic indicators, mainly including:

■ Crude oil output in oil-producing Arab countries went up by 2.7% to 21.9 million barrels per day, while exports hiked by 2.9% to 16.2 million barrels per day (pd). The average gas output in oil-exporting Arab countries rose by 6.9% to 11.8 million pd, and exports were up 6.1% to 4.6 million barrels pd.

■ The supposed combined deficit of Arab budgets fell by 53.8% to USD 102.1 billion, while this deficit dropped to roughly 3.7% of the Arab GDP.

■ Debt indicators improved as governmental debt percentage went down to 56.5% amid expectations that this drop could continue to hit 54.3% during 2022. Foreign debt percentage also plummeted by 62%, being predicted to keep dipping to 56.7% during 2022.

■ Arab foreign commerce remarkably grew by 21.7% to USD 2.2 trillion, as Arab exports and imports rose by 31.1% and 12.6% respectively. However, it is also forecasted to hike again during 2022 to roughly USD 2.4 trillion. All this has turned Arab trade balance deficit during 2020 into a surplus of USD 133 billion during 2021.

■ The Arab current account balance changed from a deficit of USD 77.3 billion during 2020 to a surplus of USD 68.7 billion, making up 2.5% of the GDP.

■ Arab foreign currency reserves exceeded one trillion US dollars, covering Arab commodity and service imports for approximately 10.5 months. In this context, the corporation urged the member states to show more cooperation and integration in economic issues in general and trade and investment in particular. It also reiterated willingness to boost its backing to Arab countries and to encourage trade and investment sectors to grow by developing new services and expanding their business scope in different member states, as well as boosting alliances with regional and world export and investment insurance agencies.

The Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) is a multilateral credit and political risk insurance provider. Established in Kuwait in 1974, Dhaman comprises all Arab countries and four joint Arab financial institutions. It provides insurance services against credit and political risks in order to facilitate the flow of Foreign Direct Investment into Arab countries and to support Arab exports and imports.