The UAE economy was enjoying sustained growth despite low oil prices because it was diversified

:: The non-oil sector of the United Arab Emirates economy is expected to grow 3.1 percent this year, accelerating to 3.5 percent next year, central bank governor Mubarak Rashid al-Mansouri said on Sunday.

Speaking to a meeting of Arab central bank governors, he said the UAE economy was enjoying sustained growth despite low oil prices because it was diversified.

IMF view

A senior IMF mission chief to the UAE, Natalia Tamirisa, had said in May 2017 that non-oil economic growth in the UAE was set to rebound this year as austerity slows after a couple of years of tough belt-tightening due to low oil prices, a senior official of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday.

Tamirisa predicted that non-oil gross domestic product – the key gauge for most businesses and consumers – would expand about 3.3 percent in 2017, up from 2.7 percent last year.