In an interview given to Yasmine Saleh from Thomson Reuters ZAWYA, Christof Rühl, Global Head of Research at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), comments on Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation programme, Vision 2030.
According to Christof Rühl, Vision 2030 is not a macro-economic reform document. Stepping back and looking at the split in oil and non-oil GDP for the GCC as a whole, a steady rise in non-oil GDP has taken place, which looks very pleasant. However, overlaying that with changes in the oil price in both the short- and long-term, the non-oil GDP grows when the oil price grows and falls when the oil price falls every single year. This is not a diversified economy. Even with all these reforms and good policies which the UAE has in place, it takes a very long time to get that established.
