(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Fawaz Karami
KUWAIT, Nov 2 (KUNA) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its forecast for Kuwait's economic growth by 0.7 percent in 2025 to 2.6 percent, coupled with optimism about the country's economic outlook from the World Bank, which also raised growth estimate in the current year to 2.3 percent.
This wave of optimism about Kuwait's national economy for the current and upcoming years was not limited to the two Bretton Woods institutions, but was shared by regional and local economic research organizations that observed notable activity across various domestic sectors, most notably in projects and in the strong performance of the Kuwait Stock Exchange during the first nine months of this year.
Among these were MEED magazine, which specializes in Middle Eastern economic affairs, and reports issued by the Kuwaiti economic research firms Kamco invest and Al-Shall Consulting.
IMF, in its World Economic Outlook report for October, revised Kuwait's GDP growth forecast for 2025 upward by 0.7 percent, reaching 2.6 percent compared to its April estimate. Kuwait's GDP last year stood at 40.3 billion Kuwaiti dinars (about USD 141 billion).
The IMF report, titled "A World Economy in Turmoil: Prospects Still Gloomy," took an opposite direction from the overall negative tone implied by its title when it came to Kuwait. It also raised Kuwait's 2026 growth forecast by 0.8 percent to 3.9 percent.
The IMF noted that the global economy is currently adapting to a reshaped environment under new policies, particularly tariffs, and projected that global growth will slow from 3.3 percent in 2024 to 3.2 percent in 2025, and further to 3.1 percent in 2026.
Meanwhile, in its biannual report issued in October on global economic developments, the World Bank raised its forecast for Kuwait's economic growth to 2.3 percent, a slight increase of 0.1 percent from its June report.
The World Bank report, which devoted a large section to women's economic empowerment, also raised its forecasts for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies to 2.8 percent in 2025, slightly higher than June estimates. This revision was supported by the gradual phase-out of OPEC+ oil production cuts and the strong expansion of non-oil activities, providing a "double boost" to regional economies.
Regarding projects, Kamco Invest, a local firm, reported in its latest report a 25.3 percent increase in the value of contracts and projects awarded in Kuwait during the first nine months of this year, reaching USD seven billion, compared to USD 5.6 billion in the same period of 2024.
The company added that in the third quarter of 2025 alone, Kuwait awarded projects worth USD 4.3 billion, an increase of 33.8 percent compared to about USD 3.2 billion in the third quarter of last year, indicating strong government spending, particularly on strategic and infrastructure projects.
According to MEED, which tracks development projects in MENA, 11 contracts were awarded in Kuwait during the third quarter of this year, the largest being the Az-Zour North Power and Water Desalination Plant (Phases II and III), a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project valued at USD four billion.
The project includes the construction of a 2,700-megawatt power plant and a water desalination facility with a capacity of 120 million gallons per day, with completion expected by the end of 2028.
MEED also noted that the energy sector saw a sharp increase in projects during this period, with total contracts valued at USD four billion in the third quarter, compared to USD 1.4 billion in the same quarter of 2024.
It added that the rise in Kuwait's project awards coincided with a 27-percent year-on-year decline in project awards across the rest of the region in the third quarter.
The positive outlook for Kuwait's economy was also reflected in the Kuwait Stock Exchange, which recorded the highest gains among Gulf markets during the first nine months of this year, achieving the third-largest increase in liquidity among the seven Gulf stock exchanges, according to an Al-Shall Consulting report issued on October 18.
Al-Shall confirmed that the Kuwait stock index rose by 19.5 percent, the highest in the Gulf region, while market liquidity increased by 89.7 percent, indicating the positive investor sentiment among investors regarding the performance of Kuwait's national economy. (end)
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