Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has reduced its expectation regarding the growth of the national economy’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) during 2018, cutting its forecast for the full year’s growth to 2.3% from 2.7% in the previous quarter.
Non-oil sector grew 3.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2018, versus 3.8% in the first quarter, according to a report released by the CBUAE on Wednesday.
“Growth remained resilient in the second quarter of 2018, against the backdrop of firming oil prices, supportive fiscal policy and resilient tourism and related activities,” the central bank said.
Meanwhile, the GCC country’s oil output declined 1.7% year-on-year in Q2-18 due to the oil production reduction agreement made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the report found.
The non-oil sector is forecast to grow by 3.6% for the full year of 2018, while oil GDP is expected to decline 0.5%.
“One factor weighing on the UAE economy has been a slump in real estate markets. In the second quarter, Dubai property prices fell 5.8 % from a year earlier and 1.7% quarter-on-quarter,” the CBUAE revealed.
