In its revised forecast of real GDP cuts in 2020 for all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) except Saudi Arabia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees an 8.1 percent contraction for Kuwait. Earlier in April, the IMF predicted a contraction of 1.1 percent for Kuwait.
Meanwhile, the IMF revised the expected contraction for United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 3.5 percent to 6.6 percent, from 2.8 percent to 10 percent for Oman, from 4.3 percent to 4.5 percent for Qatar, and from 3.6 percent to 4.9 percent for Bahrain.
Finance ministers and bank governors of the G20 group affirmed that the global economic activity is showing signs of recovery as our economies have been gradually reopening and the positive impacts of our significant policy actions started to materialize. However, the recovery is uneven, highly uncertain and subject to elevated downside risks, they said at the conclusion of their meeting late Wednesday.
“We reaffirm our determination to continue to use all available policy tools as long as required to safeguard people’s lives, jobs and incomes, support the global economic recovery, and enhance the resilience of the financial system, while safeguarding against downside risks,” they said in their final communique. “The G20 Action Plan, endorsed at our meeting on 15 April 2020, sets out the key principles guiding our response and our commitments to specific actions to drive forward international economic cooperation as we navigate this crisis and take steps to support recovery and achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth,” they noted.
Recognizing that members are in different stages of responding to the crisis and that the global economic outlook continues to evolve, we endorse the updates to the G20 Action Plan. These updates will ensure that we promptly respond to the evolving health and economic situation. The global landscape continues to be rapidly transformed by economic, social, environmental, technological, and demographic changes, they added.
Source: Agencies
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