São Paulo – Global economic growth may slow down from 3% in 2018 to 2.9% in 2019, according to projections published this Tuesday (8) by the World Bank (IBRD). According to the institution, expectations of negative risks for the international scenario have grown.
According to the World Bank, the rhythm of international industry and commerce has slowed down, while trade tensions between countries remain high and emerging markets are under heavy pressure from the financial market. The institution expects a 2% growth in developed economies and 4.2% among emerging and developing countries.
The bank estimates a 2.2% growth for Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), “assuming fiscal reforms are quickly put in place, and that a recovery of consumption and investment will outweigh cutbacks to government spending.” Passing a social security reform legislation is one of the main challenges of the new Brazilian government. The neighbor country Argentina, however, may have a 1.7% retraction.
As for the Middle East and the North Africa, a 1.9% growth is expected. In the case of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the growth is expected to be 2.6%, compared to 2% in 2018. GCC is formed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman.
The bank also estimates a positive change of 2.3% in Algerian GDP and 5.6% in the Egyptian one (picture above). The economic activity in Egypt should be driven by reforms and the increase of private consumption.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
