As the UAE follows the lead of Western counterparts to guarantee bank deposits in an effort to boost confidence levels in the region, it is becoming clearer to analysts that, despite such proactive measures by the country's Central Bank, the regional economy will inevitably face a slowdown ? and the numbers are in. "Growth is projected to be 2.7 per cent in real terms in 2009, but compared to the West, it is still a positive rate of growth and something we should be proud of and happy with," said Marios Maratheftis, Standard Chartered bank's regional head of research for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. "We are going to see a slowdown in the UAE economy; we are not going to continue to grow at the rapid pace seen over the past few years."
He added that the forecast for growth by the end of 2008 is 4.8 per cent, a significant drop from a growth rate of 9.6 per cent in 2006. Growth rate projections for the UK and the US are below one per cent and potentially negative, according to Alex Barrett, global head of client research at Standard Chartered bank. shamdan@thenational.ae
