Forecasters are raising estimates on Saudi economic growth for 2022 as higher oil prices persist while non-oil output growth exceeds expectations, according to reports.The IMF has revised upward its projections for the Saudi economy to 7.6 percent this year, an increase by 2.8 percent from its previous projection. In its World Economic Outlook published today, the IMF expects the GDP to fall to 3.6 percent next year, in 2023, after raising this up from an earlier estimate of 2.8 percent.
Joining the IMF in revising upward its projections, Capital Economics sees a potential rise in oil output in the coming months, which would cause the Saudi economy is to witness its fastest growth in over a decade this year.
“We think that the Saudi economy will grow by 10 percent in 2022 and 5.3 percent in 2023,” wrote James Swanston, an economist at Capital Economics,” according to Arab News.
Saudi oil production rose to 10.3 million barrels per day in March, which translated into a growth of 26.7 percent year-on-year.
Oil prices are helping to boost optimism for the Saudi economy, but so, too, is the non-oil sector, which expanded 4.9 percent in 2021.
