Abu Dhabi economy showing signs of recovery- official

Abu Dhabi’s economy, the largest in the United Arab Emirates, is showing signs of recovery on the back of heavy government spending, an Abu Dhabi official said on Tuesday.

“The government is spending heavily on projects. These are signs of economic recovery,” Khalifa al-Mansouri, undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, told reporters, adding that spending was focused on tourism and infrastructure.

Mansouri predicted the emirate’s gross domestic product would grow 3 per cent this year and 4 per cent in 2018, after growth of roughly 3 per cent last year. Average growth in the last five years was 4.1 per cent, he said.

The forecast appears more optimistic than that of the International Monetary Fund, which has forecast the UAE will see GDP growth slowing to 1.3 per cent this year because of a shrinking oil sector in Abu Dhabi, as the UAE cuts oil output in line with a supply agreement among global producers.