(MENAFN) Both Qatar and the UAE will maintain their positions as the first and second fastest growing economy in the Middles East and North Africa (MENA) region, respectively, in 2015 for the second consecutive year despite the global plunge in oil prices, Emirates 24/7 reported.
The economic growth in these countries will happen despite expectations that the UAE's GDP growth will slow down to 4.2 per cent this year from 4.3 percent last year, while Qatar's GDP will have 6.2 percent growth in 2015
"The outlook for oil exporting countries remains more favorable with the exception of Libya, Iran, and Iraq, backed by strong growth and significant financial surpluses as most of these countries remained free of conflict. The growth would remain solid on high public spending for mega projects and the improvement in security issues. But their fiscal surplus is expected to slightly decline in the upcoming period mainly due to the drop in oil prices and high government spending," Economist for the Middle East and North Africa region at Coface said.
Meanwhile, the growth in the MENA region is expected to stand at 2.6 percent in 2014 and to accelerate to 3.2 percent in 2015 as the result of the global economic recovery as well as the easing of some political tensions in some of the countries, however the growth performance will continue to stand below the 2000-2010 average of 5.4 percent.
The GCC countries are expected to grow 4.2 per cent in 2014 and 4.1 per cent in 2015, leading the economic growth in the region due to a strong performance in their non-hydrocarbon sectors and large budget surpluses, with expectations that the GCC countries will post 13.4 percent current account surplus this year, which will be a drop of 4.4 percent compared to the previous year.
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