The UAE Central Bank expects the country's economy to grow by 4.3 per cent in 2024 and has maintained its growth forecast of 3.9 per cent growth for the current year.
The banking regulator projects that the non-oil economy will grow by 4.6 per cent and oil gross domestic product by 3.5 per cent next year, state news agency Wam reported on Monday.
It expects non-oil GDP to rise 4.2 per cent and oil GDP to grow 3 per cent in 2023.
The UAE economy is estimated to have grown by 7.6 per cent last year, the highest in 11 years, after expanding 3.9 per cent in 2021, the Central Bank said.
Non-oil GDP and oil output are estimated to have grown by 6.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent, respectively, last year.
The Central Bank attributed the robust economic growth in non-oil GDP to the property, construction and manufacturing sectors.
The Qatar World Cup and other events held in the region also bolstered the UAE's travel and tourism industry, it said.
The Emirates is set to benefit further from the presence of a vital private sector, supported by various reforms and strategies to increase foreign direct investment flows and to attract the best talent, Wam reported.
The banking sector continues to support investment in the sector, with credit to the private sector increasing by 4.9 per cent on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of last year, it said.
The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade hit a record Dh2.23 trillion ($607.1 billion) last year as the Arab world’s second-largest economy hastened to put in place measures to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons and boost its economic partnerships globally.
This was the first time the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade crossed the Dh2 trillion mark, with values for the January-December period increasing more than 17 per cent from the same period in 2021.
The UAE economy continues to withstand global headwinds and is expected to achieve 4.2 per cent in non-oil economic growth by the end of this year, Mohamed Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said during a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Bengaluru, India, last month.
First Abu Dhabi Bank forecasts the UAE's hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon real GDP growth at 5.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, this year.
Emirates NBD expects the country's GDP to grow by 3.9 per cent in 2023.
UAE government revenue rose by about 7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 as it continued to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic on the back of federal initiatives and higher oil prices.
Total revenue for the three months to the end of December climbed to Dh148.1 billion, the Ministry of Finance said.
Business activity in the UAE’s non-oil private sector economy also grew at its strongest pace in four months in February.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global purchasing managers’ index reading climbed to 54.3 last month, from 54.1 in January, well above the neutral 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.
The UAE's real estate sector continued its strong performance in the fourth quarter of last year, achieving solid growth in terms of activity, despite the global slowdown.
The activity in Dubai's property market reached historic levels, with the total value of deals hitting Dh214 billion in the fourth quarter, an annual increase of 169 per cent.
The number of tourists travelling to the emirate increased to 14.4 million in 2022, almost double the total number of visitors in 2021.
Meanwhile, hotel occupancy in Dubai rose to 73 per cent last year, from 67 per cent in 2021, while that for Abu Dhabi increased to 70 per cent in 2022.
Passenger traffic through the five Abu Dhabi airports tripled to 15.9 million passengers in 2022, up from 5.3 million passengers in 2021, while 21.8 million passengers travelled through Dubai's airports last year, an increase of 81.3 per cent over 2021.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
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Rating: 3.5/5
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