By Satish Kanady
DOHA: A variety of narrative emerged from a panel discussion on the outlook for the global economy for 2016, with experts suggesting positive projections for the US economy being offset by more troubling economic forecasts for other parts of the world.
While economists are forecasting approximately 3.0 percent growth in global real GDP in 2016, the benefits will not be felt equally, with Brazil, Canada, Japan, and Russia all facing downward revisions, and significant concerns emerging about the health of the Chinese economy, they said.
For the GCC states, positive growth projections are being clouded by the on-going plunge of the oil market, with prices falling to a seven-year low in December 2015, following Opec’s decision not to constrain production despite global oversupply.
“Emerging Markets will be the drivers of future growth. Yes, the year 2015 witnessed a slowdown in the emerging markets, because of China slowdown. But these markets are expected to grow faster. The nearly 50 percent fall in energy prices will definitely spur the region’s growth going forward,” said Ziad Daoud, Acting head of Economics, Qatar National Bank (QNB).
QNB is very positive on Qatar. The country is staying strong and its future growth will be driven by non-hydrocarbon sector. We have the largest infrastructure investment in the pipeline. In the run up to the FIFA 2022, Qatar is committed to spend $250bn. As long as the country maintains the momentum in its infrastructure investment, the growth will not be a problem, he said.
Michael Greenwald, United States Treasury Attache to Qatar and Kuwait, US Department of the Treasury said he was optimistic about the US’ continued growth. “We are in a very healthy situation now in the US. The November figures show we added 21,000 jobs in the month. The hiring is increasing. There is a lot of confidence in US economy now and we believe the trend will continue. There are more positive signals that growth is improving. The market continues to see growth. We see a lot of positive trends in the US”.
Michael said US is a welcome destinations for infrastructure investment and real estate. Of late, it is attracting significant amount of Sovereign Wealth Fund(SWF) investment, especially in real estate and infrastructure. You will see the trend continuing. Qatar’s SWF is continuously making investments in US for good reasons.
The Peninsula
