Non-oil economic activity in the United Arab Emirates grew by 3.1% from a year earlier in the first quarter, slowing slightly from 3.4% in the final quarter of 2017, the central bank estimated on Tuesday, Reuters reported. UAE’s residential real estate market continued to decline in the first quarter of this year, with prices dropping 4.2% from a year earlier in Dubai and 7.8% in Abu Dhabi, the central bank said. Overall economic activity, which includes oil output, grew by 1.2% in the first quarter, accelerating from 0.1% in the previous quarter. The central bank raised its forecast for gross domestic product growth in 2018 to 2.7% from its previous forecast of 2.5%. Citing better prospects for the global economy, the bank lifted its prediction for the UAE’s non-oil GDP growth to 3.9% from 3.6%. But its forecast for oil GDP was cut marginally because of lower than expected oil output in the first quarter of this year. For next year the central bank expects overall GDP to expand 3.1% on the back of 4.3% growth in the non-oil economy and a 0.1% uptick in oil GDP.
