The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) expects Qatar’s economy to grow by 4.4% this year and 3.6% in 2023, supported by the boom in activities related to the country’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and the growth of non-hydrocarbon activities, in addition to its vital role in the global gas market, which enhances prospects for growth of the local economy.
The fund said in a report released yesterday that it expects inflation in Qatar will record about 4.3% during the current year, and it will decline to 3.5% during the next year.
The AMF expects the Gulf Co-operation Council countries to achieve a relatively higher growth rate this year, at about 6.3%, compared to 3.1% last year, due to a host of factors supporting growth in both the oil and non-oil sectors, and the positive impact of the applied economic reforms, in addition to continuing to adopt stimulus packages supportive of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is likely that the growth rate of the group of countries will decline to 3.7% in 2023, the AMF said.
The report also expects that the growth rate of Arab economies would collectively about 5.4% in 2022, compared to 3.5% in 2021.
The expansion will be driven mainly by a rise in global demand levels, high growth rates in the oil and gas sectors, and the continuation of Arab governments’ stimulus packages to support economic recovery whose value exceeded $400bn during the period (2020-2022), in addition to the positive impact of implementing many economic reforms and strategies aimed at enhancing the levels of economic diversification, reforming business environments, and encouraging the role of the sector private sector, supporting human capital, and increasing the levels of economic resilience in the face of shocks.
A decline in the pace of economic growth is expected for Arab countries as a group to record about 4% in 2023, in line with the decline in the global economic growth rate and the expected decline in commodity prices.
The effect of the gradual withdrawal of the expansionary fiscal and monetary policies globally that support the aggregate demand side was showcased by the AMF.
 
 
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