The UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP) is set to grow by two percent this year, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has forecast.
According to a report by the official news agency WAM, the growth in GDP comes after a contraction of one percent in 2009. The data has been released days after the UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said GDP is set to rise 2.25 percent as the nation emerges from the turmoil caused by the financial crisis.
The AMF said the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade rose 4.7 percent in the first quarter of the year to AED172bn, while imports remained at the same level as last year’s at AED113.4bn.
Non-oil exports increased by 23.4 percent to AED17bn and total exports rose 12.7 percent to reach AED40.9bn, WAM reports.
In the banking sector, the AMF said domestic liquidity in the first four months of the year grew by 1.4 percent, while the combined assets of UAE banks rose less than one percent to AED1.5tn.
A total of 2.18 million cheques, with a gross value of AED80.7bn were cleared between January and April, while the number of dud cheques averaged at 6.3 percent, according to the report. This compares to an average of 6.1 percent for the same period in 2009.
