Global Arab Network | UAE: Dubai Goes Beyond Economic Growth Forecast

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UAE: Dubai Goes Beyond Economic Growth Forecast

Global Arab Network - - Gamal Ragay

Monday, 21 February 2011 16:14

UAE (Dubai) -Dubai's economy grew 2.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2010, compared with the same period of the previous year, as trade and retail picked up, the head of the Gulf Arab emirate's statistics office has said. Arif Obaid Al Muhairi, Executive Director at the Dubai Statistics Centre, said that wholesale and retail sectors were the main growth drivers, reported Gulf News.

Muhairi did not say whether the gross domestic product increase was in real or nominal terms. Last October, Muhairi saw Dubai''s GDP growth at 2.3 per cent in 2010, well above a 0.5 per cent forecast by the International Monetary Fund. The economy of the Emirate, which accounts for some 80 per cent of the UAE's non-oil trade, expanded 5.7 per cent in real terms in 2008.
Official 2009 GDP data for Dubai are not available, although the IMF estimated a 0.9 per cent contraction.

Muhairi said yesterday that transport, storage and telecommunications were the second largest sectors in terms of 2010 growth, up an average of 10 per cent in the same period. The Dubai economy which accounts for almost a third of the seven-member UAE federation saw a slight drop in construction and real estate sectors, while the average jobless rate stood at 0.6 per cent, he said.

"The first half, maybe the first quarter 2009 was the period when economic activity dipped. Since then there has been a rebound," said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

"You can see that for example in the trade data and ... you can also see it when you look at anecdotal evidence in sales activity," he said. (Gulf News)

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