Egypt Expected to Have Arab World's Strongest Economic Growth in 2019

Vice President of the World Bank, Mahmoud Modieldin, said on Wednesday that Egypt is forecasted to have the Arab World's strongest economic growth in 2019, predicting a growth rate between 5 and 6 percent, Gulf News reports.

The figure is double the average rate of the rest of the Arab World, which is estimated at 2 percent, with the economies of the Gulf Region - the richest in the Arab World - expected to grow at an average of 3 percent. 

However despite such rates, the World Bank is expecting the region's economies to face many challenges this year, specifically in gaining the trust of investors. “We’re at a time of uncertainty," Mohieldin said.T"he secretary general of the United Nations said there is a crisis of trust, this is the general picture."

Indeed, the expected boom in Egypt's economy sits at odds with the general state of the global economy. Speaking at Dubai's Arab Strategy Forum on Wednesday, Nasser Saidi, Lebanon’s former minister of economy and trade, shared his gloomy prediction for the world's economy in 2019.

“If we look at global economies, there’s a consensus that between 2016 and 2020, there’s a slowdown in growth that may reach a recession. I’m of the side that believes that a recession is likely to start in 2019,” said Saidi. 

Main photo: Heba Saleh