GDP per capita to increase by 7.4%

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 6: The World Bank forecasted higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Kuwait this year -- from 5.7 percent in April to 8.5 percent; so the Kuwaiti economy has the best performance among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, reports Al-Rai daily. In its report on the latest economic developments entitled, “A New State of Mind: Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa,” the World Bank stated that Kuwait’s real GDP per capita will increase by 7.4 percent compared to 4.5 percent in its previous forecast.

The per capita share will increase by 1.4 percent next year, compared to the previous estimate of 2.5 percent. The balance in the current account of Kuwait will most likely reach 28.6 percent of the GDP in 2022 and 23.6 percent in 2023; provided the overall balance of the public budget will reach 1.1 percent of the GDP in the current year and then down to -0.5 percent next year. The bank expects the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to record an economic growth of 5.5 percent in 2022 -- the fastest since 2016, and then it will decline to 3.5 percent next year.

Also, the economy of the six GCC countries is likely to grow by 6.9 percent this year -- a full percentage point higher than the forecast six months ago. The bank pointed out that higher oil prices strengthened the fiscal space of the GCC countries and will lead to fiscal surpluses for most oil-exporting countries in 2022, even after the additional spending on inflation mitigation programs. The report added: “However, oil importing developing countries do not have such exceptional gains. They will have to reduce other aspects of spending and search for new sources of revenue or increase deficits and debts to finance inflation relief programs and any other additional spending.