The Director-General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Tuesday that the economies of the Gulf States are expected to grow by 6.5 per cent this year.
“It is likely that the Gulf countries’ economies will grow by 3.6 per cent next year, and that the growth will remain positive even if it retreats a little,” she added in a conversation with CNBC Arabia in Riyadh. “From our point of view, the recent reforms undertaken by the Gulf States have begun to bear fruit, and these reforms must continue in the future.”
The discussions, said Georgieva, have focused on areas where the reforms could have an influence, particularly with regard to fiscal sustainability in the medium term, economic diversification and unleashing youth potential.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance and the IMF signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to establish a regional office for the fund in the Kingdom. According to observers, selecting Riyadh to host the regional headquarters will make it an economic, commercial and investment destination for investors in the region and the world, as well as the centre of many regional and international economic activities.
The IMF expects Saudi Arabia to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with its gross domestic product growing by 7.6 per cent this year. The GDP of the Kingdom has increased in the second quarter of 2022 by 12.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. According to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, the GDP growth in the second quarter has exceeded government estimates of 11.8 per cent at the end of July.