The Middle East and North Africa’s growth projections for 2023 slumped compared to last year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
In 2022, the IMF estimated that the region’s gross domestic product grew by 5.4%. This year, it said that it would grow by only 2.6%, a downward adjustment of 0.5 percentage points from the fund's April economic forecast. The IMF's July 25 WEO update also projected the region's economy to grow by 3.1%, a downward revision of 0.3 percentage points on April's estimate.
Saudi Arabia saw a huge fall in growth projections for its economy, from 8.7% last year to 1.9% in 2023. The IMF said the country showed a “steeper-than-expected growth slowdown," resulting in a negative revision of 1.2 percentage points for 2023. The IMF forecasts that the kingdom's economy will grow by 2.8% in 2024, a negative adjustment of 0.3 percentage points compared with April's forecast.
“The downgrade for Saudi Arabia for 2023 reflects production cuts announced in April and June in line with an agreement through [the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other non-OPEC oil exporters], whereas private investment, including from "giga-project” implementation, continues to support strong non-oil GDP growth,” the IMF said in the report.
