Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s economic growth is forecast to drop during 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a recent document titled “World Economic Outlook”.
The IMF ascribed its lower projection of the kingdom’s economy to increasing geopolitical tensions, the slippage of oil prices, coupled with a drop in crude production, French news agency AFP reported, citing the document.
The US-based lender further noted that the GCC nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) may hit 1.8% this year, compared to its previous forecast of 2.4% in October 2018.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, projected GDP growth to log 2.6% in 2019.
The IMF also expected the kingdom’s GDP to increase by 0.2% to 2.1% in 2020.