Strong growth set to fuel Abu Dhabi real GDP

Strong growth in Abu Dhabi is expected to fuel a 2.5 per cent increase in real GDP in the emirate in 2010, a Dubai-based financial services firm said in a report released yesterday.

"We expect the emirates to emerge from the recession in 2010, and we are forecasting real GDP growth of 2.5 per cent this year," after a decline of 3.5 per cent in 2009, said the author of Shuaa Capital's report Mahdi Mattar.

"This growth will largely be driven by strong projected real GDP growth of 4.1 per cent in Abu Dhabi," compared with a drop of 2.7 per cent last year led by a sharp decline in hydrocarbons production.

Dubai's economy, however, is expected to contract 0.4 per cent in 2010, after a plunge of five percent last year, Mattar said in a statement. The report projects stock markets in the UAE "to record gains of around 20 to 25 per cent in 2010".

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