UAE GDP growth to hit 4.5% in 2012

The UAE's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to reach 4.5 per cent by the end of the current year, surpassing last year's estimates of 4.1 percent, the Ministry of Economy said. The latest projection for the country's economic growth in 2012 is in line with the estimates of the UAE central bank, which, in September, had forecast that the country's economic growth this year may better the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) UAE GDP growth estimates of 3.5 per cent, Gulf News reported today. Citing reasons for its optimism, the apex bank at the time had said: "Dubai may achieve 4 per cent growth or more as it was stated in the Dubai Economic Outlook for the year 2012; an equally high growth is expected in the emirate of Abu Dhabi following the recent decisions to create two new industrial clusters and to go on with some landmark projects; increased public spending in the Northern Emirates and expected high oil prices for the whole year." The emirate of Abu Dhabi's GDP is estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 5.7 per cent between 2013-2016, Mohammad Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) said recently in the capital. He also said the estimate for the oil-rich emirate's GDP growth during this fiscal year is 3.9 per cent. Abu Dhabi's GDP at constant prices achieved a preliminary annual growth rate of 6.8 per cent last year, rising to Dh606.6 billion in 2011. "Abu Dhabi GDP at constant prices grew from Dh567.8 billion in 2007 to Dh606.6 billion in 2011, achieving an annual growth rate of 6.8 per cent," Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said in October.