Saudi Arabia's economy to rise 2.5% in 2019: poll

Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product is projected to grow 2 percent this year, 2.5 percent in 2019, and 3 percent in 2020, supported by rise in government spending, a quarterly Reuters poll of economists showed.

This month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its growth forecast for the Kingdom for the third time this year, projecting the economy to grow by 2.2 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent next year.

The poll predicted the UAE’s GDP to expand 3.1 percent next year and 3.5 percent in 2020, after 2.5 percent this year.

Overall, Gulf economies are likely to accelerate over the next couple of years as governments boost spending, but the growth will not return to the boom levels enjoyed before oil prices plunged in 2014, the report noted.

Higher oil prices are giving governments more money that they can spend to spur demand in the non-oil parts of economies and Gulf economies will probably enjoy their best environment for growth since the oil price crash, it added.

Brent crude is above $80 a barrel, near four-year highs, up from around $75 three months ago.

However, economists polled does not expect oil prices to keep rising in the long term, expecting the governments to save than spend much of their windfall revenues.

Capital Economics forecasts oil prices will fall back to $60 by the end of 2019 and $55 by end-2020, the report said.