Kuwait City: The annual HSBC Economist Roadshow has arrived in the Middle East with an optimistic forecast for the region’s economic outlook in 2023 and expectations that the Gulf nations are on course to deliver some of the strongest growth in the world in 2022.

The HSBC team forecasts economic growth of 6.5% in 2022 for the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), making this one of the strongest performing regions of the world this year, and delivering their strongest growth in at least a decade.

For 2023, the HSBC team forecasts GCC growth of 5%. In Kuwait, GDP growth of 7.2% is forecast for 2022 and 2.6% in 2023.

“Our expert economic analysis team always provide actionable insights and perspectives especially in a time when conditions in the global economy are raising many questions about the outlook for growth, inflation and investment,” said Samer Alabed, CEO of HSBC in Kuwait.

More than 175 clients and business leaders in Kuwait City attended the presentations made by the HSBC economics team, made up of Simon Williams, Chief Economist, CEEMEA, James Pomeroy, Senior Global Economist and Dominic Bunning, Head of FX Research in Europe.

They discussed the global and regional trends shaping the Middle East’s economies and their future prospects. The roadshow this year visits Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait City, Muscat, Doha, Manama and Riyadh. 

Simon Williams said: “We are seeing growth heading into next year with solid momentum and few signs of imbalances that threaten near-term performance. We are comfortable with the growth outlook which we see driven by ongoing gains in domestic demand.”

James Pomeroy said: “Inflation may slow more quickly within the goods sector than elsewhere. Supply chains continue to ease up rapidly – the cost of sending freight from Asia to the US has now fallen by 85% since this time last year – and if demand for goods dwindles, discounting may come into play.”

Dominic Bunning said: The key components that have supported USD strength such as the soft global growth dynamics, fragile risk appetite and relatively higher US yields, should continue in the months ahead, in our view.”

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For further information, please contact:
Greta Madgwick
greta.madgwick@hsbc.com

About HSBC in the MENAT region

HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international banking organisation in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT), with a presence in nine countries across the region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, HSBC is a 31% shareholder of Saudi British Bank (SABB), and a 51% shareholder of HSBC Saudi Arabia for investment banking in the Kingdom. Across MENAT, HSBC had assets of US$71bn as at 31 December 2021. www.hsbc.ae