Mubasher: Bahrain’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.9% in 2017, with the non-oil economy expanding by 5%, making it the fastest growing country in the GCC, according to the latest data published on Bahrain Economic Quarterly (BEQ).
The quarterly report showed that the pace of growth in Bahrain ‘accelerated markedly’ in 2017 when compared to 3.2% in 2016.
“This strong performance in the face of sluggish regional growth was driven by broad-based success across the highly-diversified non-oil private sector, led by tourism, a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects, and a record year for foreign direct investment (FDI),” the report added.
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook has forecast that Bahrain’s economy would continue to be the fastest growing economy among the GCC states in 2018, suggesting momentum is expecting to be maintained into 2018.
On a regional level, the report projected a significantly brighter outlook for the GCC in 2018, with a pronounced pick-up expected as economic diversification and fiscal consolidation efforts transition to their next phase and create a broad revenue base across the non-oil economy.
“Bahrain’s economic resilience aligns with broader regional and global trends in which we see more diversified economies tending to achieve faster growth. Region-wide, business confidence and growth momentum are set to benefit from a more benign outlook in the oil sector and we expect 2018 to mark an important milestone as the GCC’s makes the economic paradigm shift towards diversified private-sector led growth economies,” Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist, Bahrain EDB, commented.
The quarterly report stated that “This process continued apace in 2017, with data suggesting the oil and gas sector now accounts for only 18.4% of Bahrain’s real GDP, compared to 43.6% in 2000.”
