Abu Dhabi — Mubasher: The UAE’s economic growth is expected to increase by 3.1% this year and 3.4% in 2020, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a recent report.

The report also forecast that the GCC nation’s economy would post a 2.8% growth in 2018, compared to 0.8% in the previous year.

The recovery of global oil prices over the previous period has played a key role in enhancing economic growth of the UAE and oil producers in the region, along with propping up investor confidence and financial posture in these countries, the report found.

The UAE’s inflation is projected to reach 1.7% and 1.2% in 2019 and 2020, respectively, compared to 3.7% in 2018 after the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT).

Investor confidence in the UAE’s economy has recently improved, Old Mutual Global Investors said in a recent survey.

In the same vein, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) previously said in a report that the UAE’s real growth of gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to see an increase in the coming two years, supported by the improvement of the non-oil sector, mainly due to increasing construction activity ahead of Dubai’s Expo 2020 event.

The GCC nation’s GDP is expected to rise from 2.2% in 2018 to 2.4% and 2.7% in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

“While headline growth will see only a moderate contribution from the oil sector, on account of the UAE’s participation in another round of OPEC+ production cuts in 2019 in order to balance oil supply, it will benefit from elevated construction activity and government spending ahead of the Expo 2020 on the non-oil side,” the report highlighted.