GCC Economic Update: Inflation in UAE, GCC countries set to spike this year

Inflation in the UAE, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the wider Middle East and North Africa region will spike this year due to an increase in food and commodity prices after the Russia-Ukraine war, say economists. “The UAE economy has had a strong start to 2022, with crude oil production up 12% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. Survey data points to a solid expansion in non-oil sectors as well. We expect inflation to average 4.3% this year from 2.3% previously, significantly higher than last year’s 0.2% average consumer price index,” declared Emirates NBD Research in a recent quarterly report on the region. It is projected that the inflation will ease to 2.5% for the UAE next year. While inflation in most of the other Gulf countries will also witness a surge this year, with average inflation reaching 3.0%, 3.5%, 2.5%, 3.5% and 3.0% in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, respectively. <a href="https://medium.com/@Rdaye_51426/gcc-economic-update-inflation-in-uae-gcc-countries-set-to-spike-this-year-d6278b0a1a37">Website</a>