Tuesday, May 21, 2013
0910 GMT [Zawya Dow Jones]--Kuwait's fractious politics is undermining the economy's growth prospects, says London-based Capital Economics. Notes a fresh bout of tensions between Kuwait's parliament and the government reinforces its concerns. "All told, we think Kuwait will be one of the worst performers in the Gulf over the coming years." Says political wrangling appears to have unusually detrimental effects on the economy, leading to policymaking paralysis which has reduced public investment and stymied reforms to improve the business environment. Reflecting this, investment as a share of GDP is the lowest in the Gulf, as is foreign direct investment. Expects Kuwaiti GDP to grow by an average of 2% this year and next, compared with growth of 3.3% for the Gulf as a whole. (nikhil.lohade@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews)
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21-05-13 0910GMT
