Arab News, Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 | Rajab 8, 1444
IMF lowers Saudi Arabia’s economic growth to 2.6% for 2023
Saudi Arabia: The International
Monetary Fund has lowered Saudi Arabia’s economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent
for 2023, 1.1 percentage points lower than its October estimate of 3.7 percent,
its latest report showed.
This is in line with its projection for the Middle
East region which is projected to decline from 5.3 percent in 2022 to 3.2
percent in 2023, primarily attributed to Saudi Arabia’s growth
slowdown, according to IMF’s World Economic Outlook report.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia witnessed an economic growth
of 8.7 percent, the highest in the region.
IMF, in its report, noted that the economic growth
slowdown in Saudi Arabia could be due to the decision made by the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies known as OPEC+ to reduce the oil
output.
Earlier in October 2022, OPEC+ had agreed to cut
output by 2 million barrels per day, which equals to about 2 percent of world
demand, from November 2022 until the end of 2023.
The IMF report, however, noted that non-oil growth
in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the region will remain robust in 2023.