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The UAE’s real GDP is projected to grow by up to four per cent in 2013, fuelled by strong crude prices and expansion in tourism, trade and industry, a senior economy official was reported on Sunday as saying. In current prices, GDP is expected to soar to a record high of Dh1.39 trillion this year from an estimated Dh1.33 trillion, an increase of about 4.5 per cent, said Mohammed Al Shehi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy. “The UAE economy will likely expand by 3.5-4 per cent this year to maintain its position as one of the best performing and fastest growing economies in the world,” he said, quoted by the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum. “We expect real GDP growth this year to be 3.7 per cent…there has been growth in many sectors, mainly tourism, services and manufacturing, which grew by around three per cent so far this year…trade also expanded by four per cent,” Mansoori said. Mansoori said the UAE, the largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, has managed to slash inflation from a record high of 14 per cent in 2008 to below one per cent in 2011.