Gulf economies stabilising and past the worst of the downturn

The International Monetary Fund released its October report today on the regional economic outlook at the DIFC. The report highlights that although economic risks linger, Middle East countries have weathered the worst of the downturn. Although the IMF believes growth will be slightly lower this year, it is predicting higher growth of 5.2% in 2010. Dr Nasser Saidi, Chief Economist at the DIFC, tells Rob Jones why the economic outlook is improving, looks at some of the risks and explains why it is important to build strong government debt markets in the region