Gulf Economies to Shrink 7.6% Over Virus, Oil Slump
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THULQAADA 11, 1441 AH THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 16 Pages Max 47º Min 27º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18171 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net FM: Kuwait offered $1.7bn Biden says no rallies, How India’s largest slum Messi scores 700th goal but 2 for Syrians in past decade 5 EU bars US visitors 7 beat back a pandemic 16 draw hurts Barca title hopes Gulf economies to shrink 7.6% over virus, oil slump IMF predicts faster rebound in 2021 • Saudi triples VAT in austerity push DUBAI/RIYADH: The Gulf states’ economies in oil prices and the impact of the pandemic would could contract by 7.6 percent this year in their lead to more debt in GCC economies, a problem he deepest decline in decades, as the coronavirus and warned must be tackled. In its World Economic low oil prices take their toll, a top IMF official said. Outlook released last week, the IMF projected the The new projection for the six-nation Gulf Saudi economy, the largest in the region, would Cooperation Council (GCC) is dramatically worse shrink by 6.8 percent – the lowest growth in more than the 2.7 percent contraction the IMF forecast than three decades. just two months ago. Ahmed Al-Kholifey, governor of the kingdom’s Oil revenues in the GCC, the Gulf Arab monar- central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, chies that supply nearly a fifth of the world’s crude, downplayed the projection as too gloomy. “We see are also expected to decline by $200 billion in the IMF forecast as more pessimistic than our pro- 2020, said Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle jections or even the (experts’) consensus,” Kholifey East and Central Asia Department. “The oil sector told the virtual forum, although he declined to pro- will shrink sharply by around 7.0 percent and it will vide figures. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of be accompanied by a drop in the non-oil sector Statistics published figures on Tuesday showing also,” he said in a webinar on the prospects for a that the kingdom’s economy shrank by 1.0 percent post-coronavirus recovery in the region. in the first quarter. But Kholifey acknowledged that Azour however predicted a faster rebound in the second-quarter performance would be weaker. 2021 as Gulf economies grow by 2.5 percent – “a In the neighboring UAE, Dubai said Tuesday that full 10 percent turnaround”. The GCC comprises its GDP had declined by 3.5 percent in the first regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia and the United quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in Arab Emirates along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman 2019. The emirate’s official media office said howev- and Qatar. Azour said that oil prices in real terms er that its troubled real estate activity had regis- (adjusted for inflation) dropped to their lowest level tered 3.7 percent growth. since 1973 earlier this year before recovering par- Meanwhile, Saudis braced yesterday for a tially following a deal among major exporters to tripling in value added tax, another unpopular aus- slash production. terity measure after the twin shocks of coronavirus The IMF last week kept its projections for Brent and an oil price slump triggered the kingdom’s RIYADH: Saudis shop at a jewelry shop in the Taiba gold market on June 29, 2020 after authorities oil prices unchanged at around $36 a barrel, almost worst economic decline in decades. announced a 10% increase in the VAT rate from July 1. — AFP half of last year’s average. Azour said the sharp drop Continued on Page 2 confirmed. Six have also been injured 19 killed in and transferred” to a hospital, it added. Tehran fire department spokesman Jalal Maleki also told the Adasani files new explosion at agency that firefighters recovered six more who died after the blaze was Tehran clinic extinguished around two hours later, grilling against raising the toll to 19. Fifteen of the TEHRAN: A powerful explosion at a dead were women, state television finance minister clinic in northern Tehran killed at least said. 19 people on Tuesday, Iran’s semi- In a TV interview, Maleki said the By B Izzak official ISNA news agency reported. explosion occurred as gas canisters The blast at Sina At’har health center caught fire in the clinic’s basement. KUWAIT: MP Riyadh Al-Adasani yesterday caused damage to buildings in the Some of the victims “were in upper filed to grill Finance Minister Barrak Al-Sheetan vicinity and sent a plume of thick floors in operation rooms, who were for the second time in less than a month, repeat- black smoke into the night sky, state either patients being operated on or ing almost the same charges that were debated television reported. “An explosion was those with them,” he said. “They in the first grilling two weeks ago. The lawmaker reported at 20:56 (1626 GMT) fol- unfortunately lost their lives due to accused the minister, who has been in office for lowed by a fire at Sina At’har clinic. the heat and thick smoke.” just two months, of proposing unpopular meas- Medical units were dispatched imme- A gas leak caused the blast, Tehran ures that would undermine the “pockets” of the diately,” Tehran’s emergency Deputy Governor Hamid Reza people and for failing to file proper lawsuits over medical services said in a statement. Goudarzi told state television. TEHRAN: First responders gather at the scene of an explosion at the Sina At’har major corruption and money laundering scan- “The death of 13 people has been Continued on Page 2 health center in the north of the capital on Tuesday. — AFP dals. He also accused the minister of providing false information during the first grilling with the aim to mislead the lawmakers and the public. Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the grilling will be placed on the agenda of the Qatar animal Lebanon raises next session, which will be determined by the Assembly office on Sunday. He also said that he referred to the legal and legislative committee shelter braces price of bread, two requests by the public prosecution asking to lift the parliamentary immunity of two MPs in as expats leave army cuts meat one case and a third MP in a different case. The first case is related with suspected dealings with DOHA: Animals dumped or born on the streets in BEIRUT: The Lebanese government on Tuesday a Bangladeshi MP who under investigation in Qatar face particular hardship. Summer tempera- raised the price of a 900-gm loaf of partially subsi- Kuwait. A number of senior officials are also sus- tures touch 50 degrees Celsius and images of dized bread to 2,000 pounds from its pre-October- pected of being linked to his illegal activities. abuse, including animals being shot with airguns, crisis price of 1,500 pounds in the first such price In his new grilling, Adasani said that the min- are common on social media. Now, rescuers are change in eight years. The pound, which is officially ister submitted to the Cabinet in May what he warning there could be a spike in dumped pets in pegged at 1,500 to the dollar, has lost over 80 per- called the “economic document”, which propos- the emirate as an economic downturn driven by the cent of its value since October and is now trading at es wide-scale measures to boost revenues by novel coronavirus pandemic forces expatriate nearly 9,000 to the dollar on the black market after imposing taxes, raising charges and cutting workers and their families to leave at short notice. sharp falls in recent days. employment benefits. The document proposes, Expatriates make up 90 percent of Qatar’s 2.75 mil- Since October Lebanon has been in a financial among other measures, to impose value added lion population. crisis that has seen businesses close and prices and tax (VAT) and other taxes on certain goods, “We’re expecting a wave of emails and phone unemployment soar. Lebanon is in the throes of its raise electricity and water charges and freeze calls to say, ‘Help’. We’ve had a few of those worst economic downturn since the 1975-1990 civil salary hikes and annual promotions in all gov- already,” Paws animal shelter co-founder Alison war, with poverty surging to now afflict around half ernment departments, besides reducing govern- Caldwell said. Founded seven years ago by two of the population. The heavily indebted country has ment contribution to social security. British expats, Paws said it saw an influx of animals maintained an official dollar peg of 1,507.5, but dol- lars at this level have been rationed exclusively for The document calls to amend a 1994 law that in the early days of the pandemic from owners who imports of fuel, medicine, and wheat. prevents the government from raising charges feared their pets could spread the virus. People DOHA: An employee of the Paws animal welfare As a result, food prices have shot up by at least on public services without the prior approval of have also contacted the shelter for help after some organization walks rescued stray dogs outside the 72 percent since the autumn, the non-governmental the Assembly with the aim to free the animal owners fell ill and were hospitalized without premises in the Mesaieed industrial area on June Continued on Page 2 Consumer Protection Association says. warning. — AFP (See Page 13) 14, 2020. — AFP Continued on Page 2 2 Established 1961 Thursday, July 2, 2020 Local Kuwait offered $1.7 billion for Syrian people in past decade Brussels conference on Syria pledges $7.7 billion for humanitarian aid KUWAIT/BRUSSELS: Kuwait has donated a total of $1.7 billion in aid for Syria’s displaced peo- ple and refugees and countries hosting them in the past 10 years, Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah said.