World Bank: Iraq will witness the highest economic growth among the Arab countries within two years
World Bank: Iraq will witness the highest economic growth among the Arab countries within two years
2022-01-12 00:36
Shafaq News/ The World Bank expected that Iraq will witness the highest economic growth among the Arab countries during the years 2022 and 2023, while an expert confirmed that the country is still a rentier economy.
The bank said in its report for the month of January, seen by Shafak News Agency, that “Iraq is expected to witness the highest economic growth among the Arab countries and the State of Iran during 2022, at 7.3 percent, up from 2.6 percent in 2021, after this growth decreased to -15.7 percent in the year 2020, indicating that “it is expected that economic growth in Iraq will remain higher than the rest of the Arab countries for the year 2023, despite its decline to reach 6.3 percent.”
The bank added that “the economic growth of Saudi Arabia in 2022 is expected to be 4.9 percent, Qatar 4.8 percent, Kuwait 5.3 percent, Egypt 5.5 percent, UAE 4.6 percent, Bahrain 3.2 percent, Tunisia 3.2 percent, Jordan 2.3 percent, and Algeria 4.1.” percent, Iran 2.4 percent, Djibouti 4.3 percent, Oman 3.4 percent and Algeria 2 percent.
While the bank did not indicate its expectations for Lebanon and Libya due to the lack of clear economic indicators for it, noting that “economic growth declined in Lebanon in the year 2021 to -10.5 percent, and economic growth in Libya rose in the same year to 78.2 percent.”
The World Bank raised its forecast for the economic growth rate for the Middle East and North Africa region, in conjunction with the recovery of sectors that have been severely affected since the outbreak of the pandemic, coinciding with the rise in oil prices and the easing of monetary policies.
The World Bank expected growth in the Middle East and North Africa to accelerate to 4.4% in 2022, after raising expectations issued in June 2021, with the region’s economy growing by 3.4% in 2023. With the recovery of sectors that depend on communication, and the decline in oil production, As well as the facilitative policy environment in general.
For his part, the economic expert, Hilal Al-Tahhan, considered in an interview with Shafaq News that “the rise in economic growth in any country is a positive indicator of the improvement of its economy, but at the same time, Iraq is still considered rentier and depends mainly on the oil sector.”
He added, “The higher the oil prices and the higher the production, the higher the growth in Iraq, but from the economic point of view, relying on one resource to achieve the growth rate is a negative point, not a positive,” stressing that “Iraq needs to develop and diversify sources of income and focus on the agricultural, industrial and tourism sectors to contribute.” effectively in achieving the growth rate and not relying on oil only to achieve an increase in the growth rate.”
Al-Tahhan also pointed out that “Iraq needs to diversify sources of income,” noting that “all countries of the world that depend on one source of income are considered disadvantageous for their economy. The correct economy is the economy that depends on all economic sectors to achieve an increase in the growth rate.”
The economic expert concluded his speech that “there is a plan that the government seeks to achieve, which is to focus on the agricultural, industrial and tourism sectors in order to increase the rate of economic growth in the near future.”
shafaq.com
