The World Bank expects real GDP growth in Kuwait during the current year to be 0.8 percent, compared to 1.3 percent expected by the bank in a previous report, which is a much lower percentage than what the Kuwaiti economy recorded last year at 7.9 percent, while the bank is likely to achieve real growth of about 2.6 percent next year.
According to a report issued by the World Bank yesterday entitled: “Achieving balance, jobs and wages in the Middle East and North Africa region when crises occur,” it is expected that the real GDP per capita in Kuwait will record a contraction of about 0.1 percent compared to a growth of 7.4 percent in percent in 2022, with the per capita rate returning to record growth of about 1.7 percent in 2024, reports Al-Rai daily.
On the other hand, the World Bank raised its expectations for the current account surplus as a percentage of the gross domestic product this year to 23.1 percent, compared to the 22 percent it expected last April. It is expected that the surplus will reach 19.1 percent of GDP in 2024, noting that the current account surplus reached 26.3 percent of GDP in 2022.
As for the public finance balance as a percentage of domestic product, the World Bank is likely to record a deficit of about 8 percent this year. year, after it had achieved a surplus of 2.2 percent last year, and it is expected that the deficit will reach 10.7 percent next year. The bank also raised its inflation expectations in Kuwait this year from 2.6 percent according to its report in April to 3.3 percent currently, compared to a rate of 4.3 percent this year, to decline to 2.4 percent in 2024. At the level of the Middle East and North Africa region.
As for the balance of public finances as a percentage of domestic product, the World Bank is likely to record a deficit of about 8 percent this year, after it had achieved a surplus of 2.2 percent last year, and it is expected that the deficit will reach 10.7 percent next year. The bank also raised its inflation expectations in Kuwait this year from 2.6 percent according to its report in April to 3.3 percent currently, compared to a rate of 4.3 percent this year, to decline to 2.4 percent in 2024. At the level of the Middle East and North Africa region.
The World Bank expects the region’s GDP growth to decline to 1.9 percent this year, from 6 percent in 2022, due to the reduction in oil production, in light of low oil prices, tightening global financial conditions, and high inflation. It is likely that the decline in growth in the region this year will be more evident in the oil-exporting Gulf Cooperation Council countries, expecting real GDP growth in these countries to reach only 1 percent in 2023, down from 7.3 percent last year, and it is also lower than expectations. The bank last April for the current year amounted to 2.2 percent, as a result of the decline in oil production and prices.
