FAB launches 2020 Global Investment Outlook Report

Abu Dhabi, January 21, 2020: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, has published its 2020 Global Investment Outlook Report, ‘Shaping tomorrow, today’. The report, written by the bank’s industry experts, examines the current global economic and investment environment, providing insights into key macro-economic trends.

According to the report, FAB is expecting growth in 2020 for the UAE. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the country will grow 2.5% in 2020, a significant acceleration compared to the 1.6% the institution estimated for 2019. Much of that will be driven by growth outside the energy sector, as the IMF expects non-oil growth to accelerate to 3% in 2020 from 1.6% last year, driven by the World Expo 2020 and government growth initiatives.

FAB also expects global growth thanks to multiplier effects and as government spending picks up. In fact, one of the latest-debated risks is the global acceleration in inflation. Consumer prices have lingered in the past decade, partly as a result of technological advances that have increased productivity and reduced some of the costs associated with intermediaries. The combination of monetary and fiscal policy acting together could shift the inflation dial globally.

Alain Marckus, Managing Director and Head of Investment Strategy and Investment Management –Elite and Private Banking, said: “The combination of improving global growth, alongside very low interest rates around the world, should continue to see risks assets do well in 2020. Ongoing global central bank accommodation also should see the emerging markets do well. The economic “long cycle” continues to be extended with opportunities available in value and income strategies, which we think will be the outperformers.”

FAB’s Global Investment Outlook 2020 can be viewed and downloaded here.